Borne of Fire, Forged in Will
by Tanneal
Summary: Naruto is trained by the Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, since he was five. Now it is time to see just how the dreamer of Kages have turned out to be like...
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Naruto Uzumaki was running down a back alley from his orphanage. The villagers were being unusually cold towards him today and it was expected for it was the ninth of October. A day when the people of Konoha missed their Yondaime more than ever and remembered the heroic sacrifice he made in order to save the village by creating a jinchuuriki for the Nine-Tailed Demon, the Kyuubi. And on this day, the villagers hated the four (almost five) year old blonde child with whisker marks more than ever because he was the demon, only reincarnated this time in the form of an oh so innocent and beautiful child! Amazingly golden hair that spiked out everywhere naturally making the child look mesmerizingly cute, the sparkling deep blue eyes that looked better than even the most perfectly cut sapphire, and the whisker marks that gave his face a foxy look that just made him sweeter than all the toffees in Konohagakure combined.

Yet the people never fell for his appearance because they knew that inside he was still the cunning and evil demon, and many believed that one day he would rise up to take the revenge on their village. It was a surprise why the Sandaime had tolerated the blonde for so long in Konoha. He had even made a ridiculous law stating that nobody that made up the younger generation of the village were to know about Naruto's jinchuuriki status. Today was an especially bad day for Naruto as he had pulled a particularly innovative prank in his orphanage manager's office that could not be connected to him anyway, but somehow the manager had figured out it was Naruto and he was kicked out of the orphanage for good. So the blonde child went to the only other place where he found refuge, a network of back alleys and hidden tunnels that were all over Konoha. Even those people that had super powers and wore armor and black clothing did not venture into these places too often, so he was all alone for the moment.

"Look who's here?" said snide voices from behind Naruto making him turn around and he curled up in fear. There were two tall guys wearing black clothing and that weird symbol on their foreheads. But they had never hurt him before; in fact there was a group of them that always followed him around whenever he ventured outside of his orphanage. Bolstered by this revelation, Naruto stood up slowly and asked.

"W-what do you want?" he looked at the strangers with a slight frown on his face.

"We just want to do something nice for you if you listen to us," said the other one, and he gave a small smile to the boy, as if reassuring him that there was nothing to worry about.

"Really?" asked the blonde as he looked up at the two with eager and excited eyes.

"Of course, but you have to listen to us and be good or else we won't be able to do the nice thing," said the one that had spoken first.

"What do I have to do? What do I have to do?" asked Naruto just like any other eager child, ready to listen to these two.

"Okay, we have to put this on you and then you have to let us tie you up so that we can take you to the forest where that special gift is waiting," said one of them as he held out a very thick rope and a small thing that people put in other people's mouth so they could not talk, he had seen the super powered people put it in bad people's mouths. Naruto would have agreed but there was something odd about the way that these two looked at him, and he backed away a little bit.

"And what if I don't listen to you?" asked the small boy, his mind already thinking of a way to get away from these two guys that really scared him.

"Then," said one of them as they took a menacing step towards him, "we will have to use force." The one with the rope lunged at him and he jumped back before quickly scrambling up the wall behind him. Taking a quick moment to steady himself, the small boy started running along the thin top of the wall like he had seen those super people do in the places where they showed off their super powers in groups of four (he is thinking about training grounds where he spies on Genin teams practicing their jutsus and skills).

"Damn that brat is fast," muttered one of them as they also jumped on the wall and started following the blonde blur that was already well ahead of them.

"The hell!" cursed the other one as he ran after Naruto. "I didn't know he could use chakra."

"I don't think he is," said the man's partner as he ran behind the blonde, and it was all they could do to not lose the blonde from their sights.

"Then how is he running so damn fast?" asked the other one.

"Remember he is a demon! Of course he has more power than regular children," said the first but he could already see that the boy in front of them was slowing down. "But we are older and we have more stamina, see he is getting tired." Naruto turned to see if his pursuers were still following him.

"Darn it," he muttered as he jumped down the wall before making a sharp right between two buildings and then he was out in the crowded streets where people were setting up stalls and vendors were preparing their wares for the upcoming celebration the next day in memory of the fall of the Kyuubi at the hands of their gallant hero. He ran as he tried to lose his pursuers in the crowd. He dodged with expert ease or just went under the legs of people if there was enough room, and nobody paid him too much mind since there were children playing in the streets all the time during festivals and celebrations. The whisker marked child, after making sure that he had finally lost the people that were following him, took another back alley and sat down panting heavily. He didn't understand why people did not like him, he had tried to be a good boy before but people told him to leave them alone. And when he started doing pranks, the men at the orphanage gave him very severe punishments while others who did the same things sometimes got off scot free. And now people were looking to hurt him? "Maybe I should tell that old man that the villagers are being bad and then maybe he will punish them. For some reason those super powered people always listens to him," thought blonde as he put his head on his tucked in knees to take a quick nap.

"Found you," said the same snide voice and Naruto looked up to see the two people from before, and they were smiling evil smiles at him.

"We tried being nice, but now we will just get rid of you right here right now," snarled the man with the rope and lunged at him. Naruto had not time to move, but suddenly an arm wrapped around him, and was moved out of harm's way.

"No you won't," said a cold voice and both the men in front of them paled. Naruto looked up to see a man with spiky silver hair and a mask covering most of his face.

"K-Ka-K-Kakashi?" stuttered one of them.

"You two are up to nothing youthful!" said a green man in a very loud and enthusiastic voice landing behind them and they both spun around.

"G-G-Gai!"

"Of course," said another man as he came from another alley. He looked like he was wearing a helmet that protected the sides of his face.

"T-T-Tenzo," choked out one of them while the other one just crumpled on the ground as he had fainted.

"Can we get this over with?" asked a very pretty lady with curly black hair and red eyes. The second one fainted as well.

"S-sugoi (amazing)," breathed Naruto making the pretty lady giggle. Just seeing these four made the two bad people faint.

"Let's go to Hokage-sama's office, this is very dire news," said silver haired man and green man and helmeted man picked up the two unconscious people. Then they all started flying over the rooftops towards the big red tower.

_AT THE HOKAGE'S OFFICE_

Hiruzen Sarutobi, one of the strongest shinobis in the village of Konohagakure was sadly beaten by one enemy that no Hokage except for the Shodaime and the Yondaime had been able to beat: paperwork. But none of them had revealed their secrets. "And why would they?" sighed the Sandaime, that information would be worth more than all the money in his bank accounts combined. Not to mention that his daughter-in-law would be furious at him for not being able to take care of Konohamaru in the last week. That two-and-a-half year old was more active than a Jounin on an A-class mission, the Sandaime chuckled at the memory of his grandson slapping him so hard that he had nearly dropped the Icha-Icha he was secretly reading in front of Anko, and the woman hated perverts just as much as she hated her ex-sensei. There was an urgent knock on the door to his office. "Come in," called the Hokage as he sat back to address whoever was on the other side of the door. 

The door to his office opened and in came Kakashi, carrying a small blonde haired child with him followed by Gai and Tenzo, both of whom were carrying knocked out ninjas and finally Kurenai who looked at the unconscious ninjas with more than a little disgust on her face. "Care to explain what happened?' asked the pipe smoking man as he indicated towards the unconscious people wearily.

"Oi old man," said Naruto as he was put down by Kakashi. "These bad super people tried to hurt me." Naruto pointed at the two unconscious Konoha ninjas on the floor. "And those good super people came and saved me," he said pointing towards the four that were looking at Naruto with bemused expressions. The Hokage's brows met in an angry frown as he looked up from the child towards the four adults that had come in with him.

"Yes Hokage-sama he is telling the truth," said Kakashi and the others nodded in assent.

"How did that happen on your watch?" asked the Hokage, more curious than angry as to how two chuunins had slipped past the guard of an experienced ANBU captain, two Jounins, and a very talented Chuunin.

"Well…we uh kind of lost him after he snuck out of the orphanage today," said Kakashi as he rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"Eh? Snuck out?" echoed Naruto as looked at the four shinobis behind him like they were mad. "I was thrown out of there for good," said Naruto as he turned back to stare at the wide eyed Sandaime.

"Can you please explain how you lost a child that is not even five years old?" he asked as he stood up and came around the desk.

"It was simple," said Naruto making the four in the room go even paler than they already were. "All I had to do was take a back alley that I knew that they did not know about," said the blonde proudly making the Hokage frown once more.

"You knew there were people following you?" asked the Sandaime as he looked at Naruto with a curious gaze.

"Of course I have always known," said Naruto blinking obliviously to the fact that it was no easy feat to realize there were ANBU trailing you without any shinobi training.

"How?" asked the Hokage in a dumbstruck voice.

"I kinda felt them, I dunno just kinda knew there were super people following me," replied the blonde with a broad grin as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Hmm," sighed Sarutobi as he chewed on his pipe. "Can you wait outside for a few minutes while I decide what to do?" he asked the blonde, who nodded and trotted out of the room before closing the door behind him with a soft click.

"What do you think of that?" asked the Sandaime as he looked at the four shinobis who still couldn't believe the blonde's words, but then again he couldn't be lying about something like that either.

"Hokage-sama, there was an attempt on his life today, tomorrow people might succeed. I suggest that he be given training from now so that he can protect himself, from the lowest threats at least," suggested Kakashi.

"At the age of five, I don't think his coils are developed enough," said the Sandaime but was interrupted again by Kakashi.

"Hokage-sama, he is an Uzumaki after all," said the silver haired teen, emphasizing on the boy's last name and the Sandaime understood immediately what the Hatake was indicating towards.

"What are we to do with those two, Hokage-sama?" asked Kurenai as she pointed at the still unconscious chuunins on the floor.

"Take them down to the ANBU cells for interrogation and run a trial for the attempted murder of a citizen," said the Sandaime curtly as he tried to think of a solution to the current problem that was Uzumaki Naruto. I knew he would be attacked, but before he even turned five? I didn't believe it would be this soon. Maybe Kakashi is right, he should be given training to protect himself, but if his parents are any indication, he has the ability to make a fine shinobi of the village. The door closed behind him again as the shinobis went to follow his orders. "I cannot just ask a Jounin to take up his training, and Jiraiya and Tsunade are unreachable right now!" muttered the Hokage darkly. It naturally fell on him to train the boy as the only other option was Danzo, and he would not have Naruto turn into one of his mindless drones no matter what.

"I knew I was too old for this job," said the Sandaime with a sigh as he opened his door and called Naruto back into his office.

"So what do you want old man?" asked the young jinchuuriki as he came back into the office.

"Say Naruto, how would you like to become one of those…super people as you call them?" asked the Hokage with raised eyebrows. Did he even have to ask?

_COUNCIL MEETING NEXT DAY_

The members of the civilian council along with the clan heads were sitting in the council conference room for the last few minutes waiting for the Hokage to come and state the urgent business. It was the day of the celebration and many of the clan heads were needed at their respective compounds/homes for their families and clan members. With the recent events of Konoha, along with the massacre of the entire Uchiha clan less than a year ago, this was one of the most joyous days that the hidden village had seen in a long time. The civilian side was also getting edgy as this was the day when people got to enjoy nice shows and epic displays of battle that tries to imitate the fight between the Yondaime Hokage going against the fearsome Kyuubi in the ultimate showdown of Shinobi vs. Tailed Beast, and not to mention all the things that would be on sale today. Then, finally after several more minutes of tense waiting, the Hokage walked through the door in all his glory, as the eventful day demanded.

Hiashi Hyuuga stood up and with a small yet respectful bow asked "Hokage-sama what is so important that you had to call an urgent meeting today of all days?" The Hyuuga patriarch not only represented his clan, but in the council he was also the spokesman for all the clans, and he had asked the most obvious question that was on everyone's mind.

"Well Hiashi-san, council members, this is rather important because you all have been asking me to do this after my time with the Sannins were done," said the Sandaime, effectively bringing everyone's full attention on him.

"So are we to take that you are going to be taking a new genin team?" asked Danzo, a light of mirth dancing in his eyes.

"Oh no that would be too troublesome," replied the Sandaime and the Nara clan head, Shikaku, started to chuckle but stopped as he realized the glares that he was getting from the other clan members. "No I have decided to take an apprentice," said the Hokage and everyone once again put their full attention on him. It wasn't unheard of; the Sandaime himself was the apprentice of both Shodaime and Nidaime. The Yondaime was building quite an apprentice out of Kakashi Hatake, and he might have become the legacy of the Yellow Flash had he not sacrificed himself for Konoha exactly five years ago. Danzo on the other hand was staring at the Hokage with a malicious glint on his eyes. Who had Sarutobi taken on as his apprentice? Someone as virtuous and loyal as him, or perhaps someone just as temperamental and love abiding as the Shodaime was.

"And who is it?" asked a civilian member excitedly.

"Is it the last surviving Uchiha, Sasuke?" asked one with gleaming eyes.

"Or maybe the Hyuuga prodigy Neji?" asked another one. "I heard that he has already activated his Byakugan."

"Hey it might be Hatake Kakashi," suggested the third civilian member as everyone knew that he was a genius, a prodigy, one of the only bearers of the Sharingan other than Sasuke Uchiha, trained by the famous Yellow Flash, and had more than a thousand jutsus in his arsenal. Yes a logical choice indeed.

"Please calm down everyone," said the Sandaime in a little louder than normal voice. Everyone quieted down to look at the Hokage with expectant eyes. "All the choices that you suggested were good but I have already made my decision, and it is none of the ones that were suggested here," said the Hokage and a pregnant silence settled over the council room.

"So who is it," asked Koharu, a little impatiently.

"Naruto Uzumaki," said the Hokage and the shocked silence that followed, along with the expression on the faces of the council members was priceless. Hiruzen only wished that he had a camera as inside he was rolling on the ground laughing like a mad kid.

"Absolutely not, there is no way the council will allow you to train the Kyuubi vessel in the arts of a Shinobi. Hiruzen do you have any idea of the consequences of this proposal?" shouted Homura forgetting all etiquette at the ludicrous idea of his old teammate.

"Why?" asked Sarutobi quietly as he waited for Homura to explain why a jinchuuriki of a village was being denied training as a shinobi?

"Because…because—" before Homura could give a reasonable explanation, a civilian spoke up ruining the perfect chance the council had to deny Naruto's training with his arrogance and total disregard for Sandaime's law because of Naruto's jinchuuriki status.

"Because he is the demon child!" came a shout from a civilian council member who was standing there, grinning like a fool as he thought that his explanation was enough to deny the Hokage's choice in training the container of the Kyuubi. Immediately two ANBU were at his side and they dragged the surprised but thrashing and screaming _former_ member of Konoha council to the ANBU dungeons.

"It is true that a jinchuuriki is made to be a weapon of the village," said Danzo in his grating voice as he stood up. "But why make him an apprentice and give him an identity? Give him to me, and I will reform him into a perfect obedient shinobi of the village." The cane wielding war-hawk gave his fake smile to the Sandaime as a smug expression was painted on his face, or however much of his face was visible.

"You mean you want to train him like one of your ROOT members?" asked Sarutobi, playing his own card to disregard the credibility of the war-hawk. The smug look and the fake smile instantly disappeared from Danzo's face as he realized just how quickly his wily old friend had undermined his position in the council. The 'ROOT' as he called it, was a rogue organization in the black ops division of Konoha's forces that followed Danzo and Danzo alone. They were the ones that got their hands dirty to keep the village and its secrets safe, whether the methods were unconventional or not did not matter to them. They were usually hated by the clan members because they believe that 'the end never justifies the means' but if the ROOT were not there the village would not be as safe as it was. Still people ignored its existence or never spoke of it openly as that division never officially exists in the Konoha Shinobi records and they never will be, as it was only in the best interest of everyone.

"It is still something that many in this village will not agree to. Do you realize that if this becomes public news, they could break out in a panic stricken riot, there might be people who will leave this village because they will think Konoha too unsafe to reside in because of the Kyuubi growing stronger with each passing day? Sorry Hokage, but in this decision you will find very little support," said Koharu, looking smug as ever but at least the tone was calm and reverent.

"Oh, don't worry about this getting out because as of now I am declaring this an S-class secret that Naruto's apprenticeship is not to leave this room. If it does, that person will die before he can utter a single word about this because I will place restraining seals on each and every member regarding this information," Hiruzen commanded and instantly two seal makers entered the room and placed restraining seals to everybody in the chamber,, even though they protested and argued with the Hokage, the clan heads were able to get this done without using too much force against the civilian members.

"Now, let us vote on this issue and please feel free to discuss this amongst yourselves, I do not want this kind of decision being done in any kind of hurry. I want all the votes in by the end of the hour," with that the Hokage walked out of the council chamber.

The clan members discussed this among themselves after the little confrontation and the majority came out to be in the favor of the Sandaime Hokage. The civilian side took more time but came out against the decision that the Hokage had made, and it was time for the Hokage to officially vote to finalize the decision. The civilians were muttering darkly since the Hokage had already made his decision and quickly announced it making it clear that Naruto would become the fourth student of the Third Hokage. The council dispersed quickly after that as the people left to celebrate (and in some cases mourn) the Yondaime Hokage's most noble sacrifice.

**Heheh, I know I should be writing my other stories but this idea was just too tantalizing to let go. So yeah, Naruto does not get attacked by the villagers and mutilated by evil ninjas every day. In my fic this was the first attempt on physically bringing him harm with the intent to kill and therefore the Sandaime is taking the necessary steps to ensure that Naruto can protect himself or escape people who might be trying to hurt him, but Hiruzen Sarutobi has no idea just what kind of power he is awakening in all the elemental nations. Oh and ideas from readers are always welcome. Caution: Smart, strong and handsome Naruto but I am going to keep his personality the same as much as possible. Please, please, please review!**

**Thanks,**

**Tanneal. **


	2. Forging of a New Weapon

**Forging of a New Weapon**

Naruto stood in front of the Hokage with an obvious frown of annoyance on his face as the older man in the room paced back and forth slowly. "What do I do?" muttered the Sandaime for the twelfth time in the last ten minutes. Sure he has taken on an apprentice but his job as the Hokage was quite demanding too, especially with all the paperwork that was still piled high on his desk. "Ahah!" exclaimed the man as he suddenly came upon an idea that was quite…ingenious now that he thought about it.

"Oi can we go now?" asked the annoyed blonde boy as looked crossly at the Sandaime, who sighed.

"Just a little bit longer, and then we can go," replied the Sandaime with a small smile at his young apprentice's impatience and excitement. When he had asked Naruto if he wanted to become a shinobi, albeit in the boy's own words for him to understand better, the little blonde was ecstatic! He was practically jumping up and down ready to start learning the instant the Hokage had asked him the question. The following day, Hiruzen had ordered one of his ANBU that always remained in his office to fetch a certain ANBU captain, one Kakashi Hatake to his office immediately. The masked ninja gave a small nod before disappearing from the tower in a puff of smoke.

"So, so what are we going to be learning today Jiji?" asked the little ninja-to-be to the Sandaime with an excited expression as he hopped on his feet. The Sandaime couldn't help but chuckle. He himself was like that when he had asked the Shodaime and the Nidaime what they were going to teach him in very much the same fashion, though he was about nine years old at the time, if his memory served right. "Ooh are you going to teach me some crazy super power like throwing fire from my mouth or maybe creating thunder in my hand?" the blonde asked as he looked innocently at the wide eyed old man.

"Naruto, how do you know those techniques?" asked the Sandaime, a little worried that the Kyuubi might be messing with the kid's head already, or filling his head with crazy ideas, or other scenarios that involved a nine tailed fox and very negative things.

"Umm…I saw them," replied Naruto, blinking twice as the Sandaime's eyes grew even larger.

"Where?" asked Hiruzen, slightly relieved that the Fox was not involved.

"The places where little super people show off their super powers to a big super person," replied Naruto confusing the Hokage a little bit.

"Are you saying that you watched young genins practice with their Jounin instructors in the training grounds?' asked Sarutobi, just so he could get what Naruto was trying to say clearly.

"Uhh…huh?" the young jinchuuriki scratched his head as he looked at the Sandaime with an expression that showed complete confusion.

"Okay, can you describe some of the people you saw?" asked the Hokage, intent on finding out exactly what his apprentice had been up to.

"Okay. So there are usually four people, and one of them is always big. So this one big person looked very funny because he was wearing a cloth on his head and also wearing dark glasses. You know like the kind people wear when there is too much sunlight?" Naruto looked at the Hokage and once he nodded, the boy continued. "He was also wearing a dark blue over all and kept telling his students about shortcuts to greatness and only he had them," finished the blonde as he looked at the Sandaime with raised eyebrows.

"Hmm, maybe I have to rethink whether I want Konohamaru to be with Ebisu once he comes of age," Hiruzen thought, he had looked for an honest and good teacher for his grandson and found it in the humble, albeit a little eccentric, Jounin but he was turning out to be a bad apple it seemed. "Have you seen anyone else?" asked the Sandaime and got a vigorous nod from the blonde.

"Yes there was this other person who also wore a cloth over his head and had two really big scars on his face. He was also wearing a very long jacket," replied Naruto but he looked a little scared as he mentioned the scarred Jounin.

"Hmm," said the Hokage as he thought deeply about how the blonde had seen them without being noticed. "Where were you hiding Naruto while you were watching all this?"

"Well I am usually up in the trees and sometimes I just peek over the fence but other than that there really isn't any other place where you can hide and the super people will not notice you," replied the jinchuuriki with a shrug. Yet he had the feeling that the scarred super person knew he was looking at them because he had looked exactly at the spot where the blonde had been hiding before they left.

"You called for me?" asked Kakashi as he poked his head through the slightly open door and when the Hokage nodded he came in. "What can I do for you?" asked the silver haired Jounin as he looked at Naruto and smiled at the whiskered boy, knowing of the jinchuuriki's parentage and his connection to the young Uzumaki.

"I want you to stay in my office," replied the Hokage simply and smiled at the confused look on the silver haired teen's face.

"Umm…what?" asked the masked Jounin as he scratched his head much like Naruto had done moments earlier.

"So I am going to take Naruto out to train but then who would be in my office if there is an emergency? Therefore I need you to stay in this office and contact me if there is an urgent need for the Hokage," explained the Sandaime already expecting the incredulous look that crossed the teen's face. "Don't worry all you have to do is sit in the office and wait to see if I am personally needed, my clone will do all the work. Shadow Clone Technique," a second Hiruzen popped into existence next to the original one and calmly sat down behind the desk as he started doing the paper work. "Kami, why in the world had I not thought of that, it was probably invented for the purpose of defeating paperwork it seems," thought the Sandaime before turning back to look the masked Jounin.

"Why me?" asked Kakashi almost pleading the Hokage to reconsider his decision but the Hokage had a perfect excuse to make Kakashi stay and even enjoy it.

"Hmm, I thought you would be happy to get some free time," replied the Hokage as he looked at the young Jounin with a smirk, confusing the masked ANBU captain even more.

"What makes you say that?" asked the Jounin as a little indignation crept into his voice; after all he was a Jounin of Konohagakure and not a messenger.

"But I thought you would enjoy the free time in the office catching up on some of the juicy stuff in the new series called Icha Icha that came out only few weeks ago and if I remember correctly you were asking for a break just to catch up on your reading weren't you?" the Hokage's smile broadened as he saw Kakashi's eyes grow wide, comprehension setting in. He quietly sat down on one of the empty chairs and pulled open his book, amazingly, at the right page on the first try.

"I will see you if you are needed," said the silver haired Jounin absently as he concentrated completely on the new series he had recently discovered and had promptly fell in love with, before even knowing that the author was his now deceased teacher's sensei, the Great Toad Sage himself! "By the way where will you be taking him to train?" asked Kakashi as the Hokage reached the door to his office with Naruto close in tow.

"Why Area forty-four, the Forest of Death of course!" replied the Hiruzen and a small shiver ran down the Jounin's back. Even full grown Chuunins hated that specific place in all of Konoha, it was no wonder the Sannins turned out to be some of the most fearsome warriors in all the elemental nations if they had started their training in there from the first day.

_IN AREA 44_

Sarutobi walked into the Forest of Death as he set Naruto down after a quick sushin and told him to follow closely. "So Jiji, what are we going into the scary forest for?" asked the blonde as he followed closely behind the older man who seemed unperturbed by the darkness that was looming before them.

"Naruto, this is where we are going to be training from now on," replied the Hokage as he chuckled seeing the young boy gulp and his eyes darted about trying to detect if they were safe in the place. He had to give credit to the kid though, for he had followed the Sandaime step for step where as Tsunade had tried to make a run for it when he had brought her with her teammates into the forest for their first day of training, and she was nearly twice the boy's age back then. They reached a big clearing in the forest that Sarutobi had first created to train the Sannins, and for some reason no trees had grown back in this place even after all these years. It was conveniently right next to the small river that eventually led to the Valley of End which was created when Madara Uchiha fought Hashirama Senju, for the role of the Shodaime to the village of Konohagakure.

The Sandaime turned back towards the blonde and knelt to face the young boy. "Now Naruto I know that this place scares you but there is a reason why I have brought you here to train on your first day. All I am asking you to do is trust me, do you trust me?" asked the Hokage and saw young Uzumaki nod vigorously. "Then you will find out everything about me and this village in due time." Hiruzen stood up and walked back to the center of the clearing before beckoning the boy to join him. Naruto did as he was instructed and stood in front of his teacher, looking up at him expectantly. "Naruto, I want you to form the Tiger seal, like this, and then push out with as much pressure as you can," ordered the Hokage as he showed the boy how the tiger seal was formed. So the blonde did just that, he held his hands in a tiger seal and tried to put out as much pressure as he could, he could feel something trying to come out from deep within him and grasped onto it like a leech.

"Oh dear Kami," muttered the Sandaime as he at first noticed a faint aura of blue surrounding the small child before it seemed like a dam had broken, and with a huge blast chakra started to pour off the boy like a roaring waterfall. The wind picked up at the sudden outpour of raw power and the trees surrounding the clearing bent in nearly a half when the wind picked up in full power. This went on for eight minutes before Naruto's chakra started to wear off before the blue aura disappeared completely. Naruto knew something had happened as he saw the Hokage's eyes were ready to pop out of his skull. "The boy's chakra reserves are already past a regular Chuunin? That is extremely rare even for Uzumakis," thought the man in wonder.

"So how was that Jiji?" asked Naruto tiredly as he wiped the sweat that beaded his forehead.

"That…that was very impressive, very impressive indeed," replied the Hokage as he came forward and sat down across his apprentice before entering lecture mode, after all he was not known as the 'Professor' for nothing. "Now Naruto, I am going to explain how your training will progress, and do not think that I will be easy on you at all. This will be the hardest thing that you have done in your life and without your full dedication and cooperation this will amount to nothing. Are you ready to give everything in you to become the best Shinobi you can under my tutelage?" There was nothing but pure seriousness on the older Shinobi's face, and the young Uzumaki knew that his training will end if he showed any hesitation right now.

"I will try my best Jiji!" proclaimed the blonde loudly as his voice echoed off the forest. "Umm…I still have a question though," he said in a small voice after the echoes died off.

"If you have any questions, doubts, or troubles then never hesitate to ask me, that is after all why I am here," assured the Sandaime with a kind smile, like he had so many times to put the child's heart to rest, and like all the other time it worked this time too.

"So what is a Shinobi?" asked the blonde boy making Hiruzen slap his forehead, this was going to be a long journey turning Naruto from a mere child to a full Shinobi, but he had made a promise to his successor that he will take care of the Yondaime's legacy and he intended to follow his promise with everything he had.

"Naruto, the people that you refer to as super people have an official name because of their powers, they are collectively known as Shinobis," replied to Hokage and the blonde's eyebrows rose and his mouth formed a little 'O' as he understood the Sandaime's previous comment. "Now, I believe you should listen to this carefully, this is going to be what you are going to do every day until I tell you otherwise. Every morning you will run for three laps around this clearing to build up your stamina before we start our training. Then there are three things that we will specifically concentrate on in the beginning and that are the basics of every Shinobi's foundation. For the first part of our training, we will concentrate on chakra control and your ability to dodge or avoid any physical or chakra enhanced attacks that can be avoided. This will not only increase your speed, it will also increase your perception of incoming attacks and reflexes to their utmost," Sarutobi stopped and watched as the boy literally drank in every word he had said. "Then I will teach you about sealing and Fuuinjutsu. Fuuinjutsu is very delicate and requires lots of practice and hard work before one can perform even the most basic of sealing techniques. But if you become proficient in the art, you will have a very high quality of jutsu arsenal that will allow you to overcome even the toughest of situations."

"I thought there were only three types. Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and Taijutsu, what is this Fuujinjutsu?" asked Naruto in a curious voice and made the Hokage chuckle once more.

"Where did you learn that?" asked the Hokage once his amusement died.

"I was just peeking through the window of a classroom in the big school, and there was this teacher with a large mark on his nose that was teaching about the types of jutsus there were. He never mentioned Fuujinjutsu, but he talked a long time about the other three and what their uses were," replied the blonde and he still remembered every word that the teacher had said.

"Well that is understandable. You see, the academy only teaches the basic level of knowledge that a shinobi needs to know so that they can become successful genins if they try hard and learn all that can be learned in the classes. The actual training of a Shinobi starts after they have become genins and start to do missions with their Jounin senseis and teammates. The Jounin senseis teach them everything according to their specialties and try to make them as competent a ninja as they can possibly become. If someone is from a clan then their training usually starts a lot earlier and shinobis from clans are therefore usually stronger than ninjas that do not belong to any clans," The Hokage saw as the child's face contort, as if disagreeing with the knowledge he was given.

"But isn't that unfair Jiji? What if the ninja without a clan works really hard, he still won't be able to become better than the one from the clan because the clan ninja has years of head start," Naruto's speculation was indeed correct, and to Sarutobi's surprise, quite perceptive of the little blonde.

"Yes, you are quite right Naruto. But our village favors those with clans and special bloodlines because they are the shinobis that rise through the ranks fast and have the possibility of becoming some of the strongest ninjas of Konoha," replied Sarutobi and he still thought that Konoha gave too much credit to Kekkei Genkai wielders, especially after what happened with the Uchiha clan, only made his doubts turn to confirmed beliefs.

"Still don't like it," said the young jinchuuriki as he scrunched his nose up in absolute dislike to the belief.

"And you don't have to believe that either. In my opinion, the way to becoming a powerful ninja, and an even better person is to always try hard and have the will to never give up. That is the way of a true ninja," concurred the Hokage as he stared at the young blonde with a smirk. He knew that no one in the village knew about his parents but he was the combination of two deceased bloodlines that were considered the best of the best, and not just in Konoha but in all the elemental nations.

"So if I work hard every day then I will become a really strong ninja right?" asked the blonde ecstatically with a bright smile on his face.

"Of course," replied the Sandaime, "I will make sure of that," he added, but in his thoughts.

"So what now Jiji?" asked the Uzumaki eagerly and Sarutobi stood up before Naruto followed suit.

"From now on, every time we train you will call me sensei and other times you can call me what you usually do, understand?" asked the Sandaime and was answered with a very enthusiastic reply from the energetic child.

"Hai sensei!"

"First we will begin with taijutsu, I will attack and you try to dodge or avoid every one that you can," ordered Sarutobi as he got into a simple stance. Naruto, jumped back as he put a little distance between the two so before staring at his teacher with intense concentration. Suddenly, the Sandaime ran, faster than Naruto could react, and he felt the breath leaving his body as an elbow buried itself deep into his stomach, lifting him off his feet, and sent him sprawling on the ground a few feet away. He slowly sat up and coughed but looked up with admiration shining in his eyes.

"That was amazing!" he shouted as he jumped back to his feet before walking forward and standing across from the Hokage, ready to try again. The Sandaime smiled, seeing the child's eagerness to not give up and took up the same stance as before. Sarutobi launched the same attack again but his apprentice was ready this time. He ducked, so the older shinobi launched his leg out and was surprised when the blonde jumped above his leg before flipping, effectively dodging his hand swing that he threw when he saw that Naruto had dodged his kick. The Hokage raised his brows, Naruto turned out to be better than he thought.

"Alright Naruto, now I am going to put it up a notch because I want to find out what your limit is," stated Hiruzen as he got into a stance that lead into katas, and Naruto nodded saying he was ready. The Hokage charged, this time intent on just landing a blow on his apprentice but the blonde dodged him lithely by jumping, then flipping, before ducking and finally sliding under his arm as they both stopped.

"How was that sensei?" asked Naruto as he turned to face his teacher with a mischievous smile on his face.

"How did you learn to do that?" asked the Sandaime in a shocked voice.

"Learn to do what?" asked the blonde innocently, oblivious to the fact that many found what he just did quite hard, even though the Hokage was going easy on him because Naruto had no training in the shinobi arts at all.

"How did you learn to avoid attacks in the manner that you just did?" asked the Hokage, he could see that the blonde's style was unrefined and quite rough at best, but had dodged the fast katas that he had thrown to test his student's limit.

"I just saw you coming and dodged just like you asked," replied the blonde, surprising the older shinobi even more.

"Hmm, let's see just how fast you are," said the Sandaime as he charged at his student again, this time without any warning. They practiced this for another couple hours before Naruto dropped on the grass like a bag of sand from exhaustion. After regaining his breath and drinking some water from the small river he went back and sat down next to his sensei.

"Naruto, I know how good your physical capabilities are, now I am going to teach you about your chakra control," said Hiruzen as he stood up and walked towards a tree and walked up on it like he was walking on the ground. Naruto stared at his sensei, as the man walked up the tree before calmly walking back down looking at Naruto with a small smile. "Your turn," said the Sandaime as he came to stand by his apprentice.

"Umm, what do I have to do exactly?" asked Naruto as he looked up at his sensei.

"You have to concentrate the flow of your chakra to your feet so that you can stick to the tree while you are climbing it," replied Sarutobi and Naruto tried as he walked up to the tree to give it a try. He concentrated a little bit of the power that he had done earlier to his feet before attempting to run up the tree. He got about three steps before sliding back down and landing on his butt. He stood up and prepared to try again when his sensei stopped him.

"Naruto, don't try to run up the tree but just walk up so that if you do make any progress, I will be able to tell immediately, okay?" the Hokage got a nod as his answer before his apprentice tried again. When the blonde was not able to even take a single step, the Hokage gave him a few pointers and kept supporting the boy until he grasped the concept and by the end of the hour was able to make it halfway up the tree before his concentration broke and he just fell from the trunk. That was understandable thought the Hokage as he caught the blonde, after all he had just used up almost all of his chakra when he had shown how big his chakra reserves were only a few hours before. "Alright Naruto, that is enough, I am going to introduce you to the basics of Fuuinjutsu now, so come have a seat." Naruto followed his sensei back to the middle of the clearing, where they both sat down across each other and Sarutobi pulled out a medium sized book and a new notebook.

"Naruto, this is the book that they used in Uzushiogakure to teach the beginners the basics of Fuuinjutsu," said the Hokage before opening the book to the first chapter.

The Hokage showed Naruto how to perform many of the strokes properly and asked Naruto to practice his strokes every day until he became adept at them before could move on to more advanced things. Once that was done, the Sandaime stood up and put his white and red robes back on that he had taken off when he had started training Naruto. "Naruto do you know how to read?" he asked as he finished buttoning up his robe and picked up his hat.

"Yeah, we learned how to read and write at the place where I lived," replied Naruto as he put the Fuuinjutsu book and the new notebook into the pocket of his oversized orange jacket. Then the Sandaime suddenly froze as he remembered that Naruto had been kicked out of the orphanage two days ago, and he had completely forgot about it with all the things he had to do to make Naruto his official apprentice.

"Yeah, a fine sensei I make," thought the older man to himself sarcastically as he mentally cursed himself for becoming so careless about his charge. "Naruto, I know that you have nowhere to go, so come with me to my house, you will be staying with me until we can figure out a better arrangement for you, oh and I wanted you to have this," the Hokage held out a rather large leather bound book that was labeled "The Rise of Hashirama Senju and the founding of Konohagakure No Sato of Fire Country".

"Eh, what's this?" wondered Naruto loudly as he looked at the label on the fat book.

"Naruto, if you are going to become a Shinobi of this village, it is a requirement that you know the History of our village and how it was formed," lectured the Hokage as they walked towards the Sarutobi Mansion.

"So does this talk about the long haired man whose face is on the Hokage Mountain?" asked Naruto as he pointed at the sculpted face of the Shodaime Hokage on the mountain.

"Yes, and I will give you more books after you are done with that one that talks about all the Hokages of this village," said the Sandaime with a smile at the blonde.

"Even you?" he asked as he smiled at his sensei.

"Yes," replied Hiruzen with a chuckle. "Even me"

They finally reached a huge structure in the outskirts of the village and the duo walked in through the two large gates that led into the grounds that surrounded the mansion. "Is this where you live?" asked Naruto as he turned to look at his teacher who gave a small nod. "Sugoi," breathed the blonde as he took in the sheer size of the mansion itself. The Hokage and his apprentice walked in through the double wooden doors in the front of the mansion were greeted by four people in the living room who were waiting for the Hokage.

Kakashi looked up from the book he was reading and said "Yo".

Iruka stood up from the place where he was sitting and bowed to the Hokage who waved him off and he sat back down. And, there was a woman who was holding a small boy in her arms as she turned around and asked with a soft smile "How was your day Father?"

"Baa...ba ba?" said the boy in her arms.

"It was quite…interesting," replied the Hokage tiredly as he sat down next to Kakashi with a heavy sigh.

"And who was your new apprentice?" she asked as she looked curiously at the little blonde boy who was still looking around at the house with wonder.

"Well you are looking at him right now," replied the Sandaime as the three ninjas in the room broke out into light laughter at the young woman's startled 'Oh my!'

"So Kakashi, I hope there was nothing too troublesome that you had to do while you waited in my office today?" asked the Sandaime, and the ANBU captain promptly closed the book with a snap as a serious expression came over his face.

"Well, there wasn't any urgent need for the Hokage but the council members have requested a meeting with you tomorrow evening regarding the progress of your new apprentice," replied the silver haired man before standing up. "I do believe that I have to meet up with Gai for something important, is there anything else you might need?"

"No thanks, from tomorrow you can join back to your regular duties in the ANBU headquarters, and thank you for taking care of my office today," said the Sandaime and the masked Jounin nodded before promptly disappearing in a swirl of leaves. "Ah Iruka what brings you here today?"

"Nothing too important Hokage-sama, you just need to sign these papers for next year's term and these are the new entrees for next year's students," Iruka handed a folder to the Hokage who quickly scanned it before signing the places where his signature was needed.

"Hey aren't you a teacher at the big school?" shouted Naruto suddenly as he recognized the scar that ran across the man's nose.

"Yes, I am and who might you be?" asked Iruka politely.

"Naruto Uzumaki," replied the boy before giving the man a dazzlingly bright and large grin.

"Nice to meet you Naruto, my name is Iruka. I didn't know you went to school though aren't you a little young to be going to the academy?" asked the Chuunin curiously.

"No he doesn't go to the academy yet," confirmed the Hokage. The young woman put the baby she was holding down as he waddled over to his grandfather and pulled on his robes.

"Naruto, I believe you need a good wash," she said a little too sweetly for the boy's liking, and there was an evil glint in her eyes. "Come on, it's time you got a good scrubbing." She promptly picked the boy up and took the thrashing and protesting blonde inside.

"She really is something huh?" asked the academy instructor with a smile as he remembered that she had done the same to him about five years ago when the Hokage had brought him here after the Fox attacked the village.

"Yeah said the Sandaime as he picked up Konohamaru as smiled when the toddler yawned widely. "I think it's time for you to go to bed," said Hiruzen he rubbed the boy's head and he snuggled up against grandfather's chest and the soft robes he was wearing.

"So Hokage Sama, if I may, why the sudden interest in the child?" asked Iruka, he was genuinely surprised when he heard that the Sandaime had taken on an apprentice and the jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no less! The Hokage sighed tiredly before replying.

"There was an attempt on the his life the day before the celebration and I decided that he needed to learn how to defend himself, so that he could at least get away if he was ever attacked again, but I just couldn't ask someone to take over his training, so I decided that the best way he would receive it without the council interfering too much would be if I took him in as my apprentice. They argued and tried to make me choose someone else, but I somehow was able to get the votes of the clan heads and it was decided. Let's just leave it that," said the Sandaime tiredly. "Why don't you stay over for dinner, I have a few things to discuss with you anyway?"

"As you wish Hokage-sama," replied the Chuunin as he put the folders back into his work bag while the Sandaime carried his grandson to bed.

Everyone was finally seated on the dining table and Naruto was staring at the steamed vegetable on his plate with a little frown on his face. He was currently wearing a comfortable looking cotton shirt and pajamas, both fit him quite snugly. "What's wrong Naruto?" asked the woman that had given him the scrubbing of a life time in the bath minutes before.

"I don't like veggies," he said confidently as he looked at the Hokage and Iruka, who were staring at him like he had lost his mind.

"Naruto, vegetables make one of the most important parts of a ninja's diet. If you don't eat your vegetables, you won't get the needed nutrition that a ninja's body needs to grow and cope with the intense physical exercise that they have to do every day to stay strong, and mentally focused at all times," lectured Iruka. He had learned over the course of the year that, many youngsters shared the thoughts with Naruto about vegetables but he drilled it onto his students that even though they did not taste well, they were very important to the body, especially those training to become full-fledged shinobis in the future.

"Eh, are you serious?" asked Naruto, his eyes as big as saucers.

"Of course, and veggies help you grow big and strong too," confirmed Iruka as he held a piece of broccoli tantalizingly on his fork before putting it in his mouth. That was all it took for Naruto to grab his fork and start shoving the steamed vegetable in his mouth, even though he looked like he was about to throw up.

"So father, where are Naruto's belongings? I don't see him with anything other than the clothes he was wearing," asked the woman as she remembered the horrible looking jacket and pants that Naruto was wearing when he walked into the mansion.

"Umm, he was thrown out of the orphanage he was living in," replied her Father-in-law as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"I see, and whose idea was it to give him those horrendous clothes anyway?" she wondered out loud.

"Well, he did say his favorite color was orange," said the Hokage meekly as comprehension dawned on his daughter-in-law's face.

"Tomorrow I am going to take the boy shopping for some decent clothes," stated the woman more than asked and all the Hokage could do was agree, Naruto sorely needed the essential objects that most kids took for granted, and he still needed to find a good place for the him to live in, but until then the young blonde was living with them. That night, Naruto felt quite exhausted as he climbed into the comfortable bed that Jiji had given him. He was ready to go to sleep but he remembered that he had a responsibility as his gaze fell on the leather bound book that Sarutobi had given him that day at the end of their training. He slowly picked it up and flipped it open to the first page that was labeled Part I.

_THE NEXT EVENING IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER_

The Hokage sat down in front of the council to listen to the proposal they wanted to present for his apprentice. He knew that the council will not make it any easier for the young Jinchuuriki, but the biggest hurdle was making Naruto his official student, and that was already done. Relieved by the knowledge Sarutobi sat a little straighter and motioned for them to begin the meeting. "Hokage-sama, since there is no way that we can divert your mind from making Naruto Uzumaki an apprentice, we propose a deal for you to ensure the safety of this village, and all its inhabitants," said Homura out loud, and stopped until the Hokage motioned for him to proceed.

"Since it is already clear, Naruto Uzumaki will not be trained to use the power of the Kyuubi because it was quite well known by the statements of the previous jinchuurikis of the nine-tailed demon, that controlling the Fox's power to its full capacity was impossible, and any kind of training in this matter makes the vessel lose control of their emotions and go berserk with the high levels of raw power. Secondly, we wish to test the progress of the Jinchuuriki after two years to judge whether his apprenticeship is going according to the village's benefit or not." The glass wearing council man was quite weary of his old teammate's wrath and was sweating profusely by the time he was done reading what Danzo had prepared for his speech.

"Agreed, Naruto will not be trained to use the powers of the tailed beast in him as long as he is within the walls of Konoha, but what kind of skills are we talking about when you say that you want to test the boy's progress?" inquired the Hokage, mildly interested as to what exactly Danzo wanted to prove with this test of his. Koharu Utatane stood up, and with a curt nod to Hiruzen, she began to speak.

"The council has decided that since Naruto Uzumaki will represent Konoha as the alleged student of our Hokage, we want to make him as prominent in the example of a young Shinobi as possible for Fire Country and for Konohagakure. As such we will test him to see if he can perform simple genin feats in all three forms of shinobi arts," stated the council-woman as many murmurs and whispers ran through all the people seated in the chamber.

"With all due respect council members, I ask how one can expect such skills from a seven year old when we normally expect these coming from children at the age of twelve or higher," asked Inoichi Yamanaka, as he stood up and addressed the rest of the council.

"The same way we expected of the Sannins, then Hatake Kakashi, and also Itachi Uchiha," replied Danzo as he stood up with the support of his cane.

"But that was only permitted because it was in times of war and we needed able shinobis no matter how young or old they were. In the times of peace it is quite unjust to ask this of a seven year old," shouted Inoichi, clearly disgusted with the council's stubbornness against the young jinchuuriki and the fact that they did not care for anyone but themselves. It was clear that Danzo had wanted the jinchuuriki under his control, and was lashing out against the Hokage because he was denied his pawn that could help him gain the highest seat of power in Konoha.

"Understandable argument if you were talking about just any young Shinobi of Konoha," retorted the bandaged war-hawk. "But we are talking about the student of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the former sensei of the Sannins, and the Sandaime Hokage of the strongest shinobi village in all the elemental nations." Inoichi was about to argue but felt a hand on his shoulder and looked down to see the face of one of his two closest friends, Shikaku. The Nara shook his head lightly indicating that he should stop fighting the council's wishes if he knew what was good for him and his family. The Yamanaka clan leader sat down with a defeated sigh, he knew not matter how bad the situation seems, his friend was always right about certain things, this being one of them.

"What happens if my student does not meet the presented requirements?" asked the Hokage; his voice rang out like thunder as the barely contained fury of the Sandaime could be felt like the sting of a whip in his voice.

"Then," replied Danzo, completely unfazed by the Hokage's anger; "the jinchuuriki will be moved to more appropriate guidance."

"Very well," replied the Hokage, much to the surprise of the majority of the council members present in the room. He had seen firsthand the unlimited amount of potential that the boy seemed to possess and would flourish if harnessed properly, but now he was going to train the boy no holds barred. The wanted a weapon? Fine, but they will get a double edged sword with no hilt; a weapon that cannot be wielded by anyone.

As the council was dismissed, many of the council members were surprised that the Hokage had accepted the council's proposal. Only shinobis that were exceptionally talented or a prodigy of unparalleled proportions, they cannot achieve the goals that was being set for the young jinchuuriki of Konoha. In the history of the village, only a few had been able to pull off such feats at the age of seven. One of those was Kakashi Hatake, and another one was the man that had brought the Uchiha clan to its very knees, Itachi Uchiha.

As the Hokage left the council chamber, he noticed without much effort as he was followed by three Jounins. He did not have to turn around to know that the Ino-Shika-Cho trio was following him back to his office, and he also had a pretty good idea about what they wanted to talk about. The Hokage sushined back to his office, closely followed by the three members of the most renowned strategy-strike team in all of Fire country, and ordered his ANBU to leave his office before putting up a sound seal around the office. As he did, four other shinobis joined them in the office as well, they being Kakashi, Gai, Tenzo, and Kurenai.

"I assume you are all here to discuss the matters regarding Naruto Uzumaki?" asked the Hokage knowingly as he sat down tiredly in his chair and looked at all the shinobis present in the room.

"Yes Hokage-sama," replied Chouza Akimichi in a diamond hard voice, sounding really angry and pissed off.

"Do elaborate your intentions," said the Hokage nodding as a small smiled caressed his old and wrinkled face.

"With all due respect, Hokage-sama, why the hell did you accept this ridiculous proposal that the council presented for Naruto?" asked Inoichi, making quite a few in the room to snicker at the choice of his words and the contradiction that the sentence itself presented.

"Because," said the Hokage carefully choosing his words so as not to put off any of the time bombs that were ticking inside his office right now. "He is capable of achieving these goals and more in two years time." Many jaws hit the floor, but there was one that was smirking under a mask.

"How can you say that?" asked Gai as he recovered from the shocked silence that had enveloped the room a few moments before.

"I don't know how, but the boy had picked up some taijutsu skills just by observing young genins in training with their senseis. Now call me dumb, or that I have gone senile with age but no ordinary young boy should be able to do that unless he is given proper instruction in the arts of a shinobi," replied Hiruzen, once again making the room go silent.

"Well that wasn't what we were here to discuss anyway," said Inoichi in a low voice and the Hokage looked at the man curiously.

"So why are you here?" he asked when Inoichi just stood there staring out of his office.

"I have seen the boy since he was very young," replied the blonde Jounin as a sad look came across his face. "It is unbelievable the amount of spirit he possesses, he was shunned since day one and yet he goes about like nothing in the world can bother him. If there was anyone else in his place, he would have crumbled, broken. But this boy, it is as though the spirit of the sun itself burns within his little body, and that smile of his. So pure, so innocent, and so…bright, all I want to say Hokage-sama is…please preserve it. Do not let his spirit fade; do not let that smile get lost through the pains that the world will undoubtedly inflict upon him, please keep the brightness that always lights his eyes. The eyes that never rebuke or judge anyone no matter how many cold stares and harsh comments it sees, it always shines brighter than all the stars in the sky. Please keep that smile of his intact Hokage-sama…" by the time Inoichi's voice faded many in the room realized just how much this man cared for the young boy that bore the burden of this village's safety inside him.

"Inoichi," said the Hokage in a heavy voice as he also came to the realization that Konoha's people might not be as misguided as he had originally thought. "I cannot promise you whether his smile will be there or not even after he grows up, but it rally gladdens my heart to know that there are people like you out there that view the boy for what he truly is and not the monster that is inside him. Maybe, with support of people like you, that the smile you are talking about will be there upon his face even after all the loneliness and harshness that he faces in Konoha."

Inoichi nodded as he deftly wiped his face before heading away from the Hokage's office. It had been a really long day indeed.

As the Hokage rested his head back on his chair a smile graced his features. Maybe, just maybe, life may not be as bad for the blonde jinchuuriki as he had initially thought it would have been. There is always hope.

**Hiya there guys, how's it going? So here's the next chapter in the story and this one is kinda long but I thought this needed to have all the information that I have put in to make the story really work. So there is going to be a time-skip in the next chapter, and we will see a bit of Naruto's social life as he grows up (trust me there won't be much). Yes, ideas will be taken into account and any critical reviews will be welcome as I am still an inexperienced and young author on this site. **

**Thanks,**

**Tanneal. **


	3. The Sharpness of an Edge

**The Sharpness of an Edge**

**2 Years Later**

For the next two years Naruto was trained by the Sandaime Hokage every day till he was exhausted to the bone. In these two years, Naruto's abilities as a Shinobi had grown far more than the Sandaime had hoped or thought possible. Now, the young jinchuuriki was able to make his own explosive tags and storage scrolls. His skills as a sealer had moved on from novice to intermediate. His ninjutsu arsenal had grown more than that of any genin's and the Hokage deemed that it was now time for him to learn some elemental manipulation because he was sure that with Naruto's mature chakra coils, he had developed one elemental affinity at least. His ability to predict attacks and his perception had also grown immensely since he could dodge almost all of Sarutobi's attacks even when he was using that massive Bo staff of his, and he has mastered all the basics of Gouken by none other than Maito Gai himself. His physical strength was far above kids his age, whether it was due to training or because he had inherited his mother's traits was hard to tell. What most surprised Sarutobi was Naruto's physical growth, he was short when he was five for boys his age, yet in the last two years he had grown more than a full foot in height now standing at exactly four feet seven inches tall.

Naruto was finishing his twelfth lap around the clearing in the forest when the Hokage walked in with Kakashi in tow. They were talking amongst themselves and it seemed that they were arguing about something because Kakashi kept insisting that there was no way that a seven year old had chakra coils with elemental affinity yet, but the Sandaime insisted that they still see whether he has developed even one, because his chakra reserves were now as vast as that of a low level Jounin. As Kakashi stopped to survey the clearing, his visible eye nearly popped out of his skull at seeing three Narutos meditating, while three more Narutos were walking up and down a tree, another three running around playing tag on the nearby small river, and the last three practicing target with various projectile weapons.

"Hey Jiji!" shouted the real Naruto as he finished his laps and headed over to where the two men were waiting for the young ninja.

"Hello Naruto, it looks like your training has brought some very impressive results," said the silver haired Jounin as he surveyed the clearing once more, just to make sure that he was not hallucinating before. "Do tell how you learned the Shadow Clone technique though?" inquired the former ANBU captain because he was sure it was one of the forbidden techniques of Konoha village.

"Ahh, I can answer that for you," said the Hokage. "I was trying to teach him the regular Clone technique but he kept applying too much chakra resulting in poor and sickly looking clones. So I asked him to make the seals for a shadow clone and he produced eight perfectly usable clones with chakra distributed equally among them, and he used them for a few hours but did not seem to be tired at all from using that many clones for such a long period. This gave me an idea, since clones' experiences and memories get transferred after the clone disperses to the original, he could accelerate his training exponentially, and that is what he is doing right now. Due to this his chakra control has become first class, his already vast chakra reserves have tripled, and he has been able to learn more jutsus than just the academy ones. Oh and his ability to use mass amounts of clones in coordinated attacks produce devastating results." Hearing the speech from the Sandaime, Kakashi pouted inwardly. Hiruzen had never taught him all this stuff when the Yondaime's apprentice was seven; in fact the third had showed his dislike towards the White Fang's legacy quite openly for some unknown reasons. Naruto gave him a toothy grin before turning back to his teacher.

"So wha'cha gonna teach me today sensei, or are you going to be teaching me Kakashi sensei?" he asked excitedly because the Sandaime had told him that he might learn a new jutsu if everything went according to the Hokage's plans.

"We will get to that a little bit later, I want you to do something for me first," said the Hokage before looking at Kakashi meaningfully. The Jounin sighed exaggeratedly but pulled out a plain looking square piece of paper and handed it to Naruto. "Now, I want you to insert a little bit of your chakra into this paper to see if you have developed any elemental affinities." Naruto shrugged but did as he was told. Instantly the paper split in two before one half became wet and soppy while the other burst into red hot flames. With a yelp Naruto let go of the flaming half, not understanding why the paper did what it did. When he looked at the two grownups for answers, he was surprised because Kakashi looked like he was ready to wet his pants while the Sandaime just looked on tiredly. Nothing about the young jinchuuriki surprised him anymore, but still, three affinities at the age of seven? Unheard of in all the elemental nations, as far as the Sandaime knew.

"Say, what do you make of that Kakashi?" asked the Sandaime proudly though it also said 'told you so'.

"Umm, how do I cannot believe this is happening sound to you?" replied the stunned Jounin in an awed voice making the Sandaime chuckle.

"Good answer, but how the heck does he have two secondary affinities? It does not make sense," muttered the old man which Kakashi did not miss. In fact he had a theory as to why the blonde might have an affinity towards a third element.

"You do remember that many of the Fox's attacks were fire based right?" asked Kakashi as the Sandaime's head snapped up in comprehension. "Well the seal allows a little of the Fox's chakra to constantly mix with his own, as a result his coils must have…generated an affinity towards the fire element," theorized the masked Jounin.

"Genius," breathed the Sandaime in wonder and Kakashi could only agree silently, yes it was no doubt that Minato Namikaze was a genius.

"Oi who is a genius?" asked Naruto irritated at being completely ignored by the other two.

"Nobody Naruto," said the Sandaime hurriedly before continuing more calmly. "Well it looks like you get to learn more than just one jutsu eh?" said the Sandaime with a smile as Naruto's mouth opened a little bit and his eyes got glazed over.

"Hey, hey, are you all right?" asked Kakashi concerned about the boy's sudden loss of words and more importantly the vacant look that came over his eyes. The Sandaime chuckled; he was used to this behavior by now.

"Oh don't worry Kakashi; he gets like this whenever he hears that he is going to learn new jutsus," clarified the Hokage making the Jounin sweat drop.

"But why?" asked the Jounin clearly confused by the unorthodox behavior of the blonde boy.

"Because for some unknown reason Naruto finds training to be fun," replied the Sandaime.

"Oh dear," muttered the silver haired man as he was clearly seeing the traits of his Sensei's wife in the boy. It was not considered a good thing that she loved training as much as she loved Minato; and it understandably always put his sensei in a bad mood whenever he was reminded of that little fact about his girlfriend and then later his wife.

"Well it's good to see that the training is paying off quite well, he seems to be growing faster than I thought given his height when he was younger," said the Jounin, he could already tell that the boy was going to be taller than his father, probably because he had also inherited his mother's genes as far as height was concerned. Minato Namikaze was exactly six feet tall, while Kushina stood at five feet and ten inches, impressive height for any woman in Konoha. If the young blonde had inherited his mother's genes for height he might just become a big man like Jiraiya or that Raikage (Kakashi hoped it was not the latter). Naruto finally snapped out of his trance like state and looked at the Sandaime.

"Oh yes it was surprising indeed at the sudden growth spurt that we observed after my daughter-in-law set a strict diet plan for Naruto. The boy was quite malnourished, and given his infatuation with Ramen it was not surprising that his growth was stunted, but still it was surprising that the boy could grow this much in such a short time," agreed the Hokage though he knew more than anyone just how long the last two years had been for him being the young Uzumaki's first sensei.

"Well what are the names of the jutsus I will be learning?" he demanded as he realized that he was being ignored again.

"Oh yeah, Kakashi can you give him the scrolls," asked the Sandaime and the Jounin pulled out three scrolls from the inside of his dark leaf colored vest.

"In each scroll there are two jutsus from each element that you have an affinity for. These jutsus will help you increase your control on your elemental chakra as well as give you something that is easily stronger than any regular D-level jutsus. But be careful, they can also harm you if you do not take caution while practicing these," lectured Kakashi as he handed the scrolls to the blue-eyed ninja.

"So sensei, which one first?" asked Naruto as he turned to look at Hiruzen excitedly. Who cringed slightly, he knew Naruto was going to give him a good berating when he said that he won't be able to train him for the rest of the day.

"Well you see Naruto, I will not be able to train you today," said the Sandaime, waiting for the blonde in front of him to burst.

"WHAT WHY?" shouted the jinchuuriki as expected and the Hokage sighed, but at least he had a good reason.

"Well the council has put up a huge meeting that will take most of the day and then there is your test that is coming up later today," reminded the Hokage because he was sure that the young blonde had probably forgotten all about it.

"Oh yeah, I have to take that dumb test today," muttered Naruto as he remembered his sensei had told him about it only the day before yesterday.

"Be present at the council chamber at four and don't be late," said the Hokage and got an impatient nod from the blonde boy. If he was having a free day, he might as well have fun that did not involve training, but he needed to clarify it with his sensei, or he would get punished severely. The last time he decided to go into the village without taking any cover, the Sandaime was furious with him and had made it clear that he was not to show himself to the villagers until he was old enough to go to the academy, and that was not before he turned twelve years old.

"Hey, hey is it okay for me to go to the village? I promise I will be careful and not show myself to anyone," said the blonde with a pleading look in his eyes, and for some reason his blue eyes were three times their original size and his foxy face became more and more like a lost puppy's.

"Oh alright but make sure to stay out of the villagers' eyes," said the Sandaime with a sigh, it wasn't like he could deny Naruto anything if he made that face anyways.

"ALRIGHT!" shouted the blue-eyed mass of energy happily jumping around while the two older shinobis sweat dropped. Sometimes they forgot that no matter how experienced Naruto was at being a shinobi, he was still only a seven year old.

"I will be leaving then Naruto," said the Sandaime and got a distracted nod from his pupil.

"Later then Naruto," called Kakashi and then both the Ninjas sushined out of the happy blonde's sight.

"Hmm, I have to learn that neat trick," muttered Naruto, and decided that he will talk about it to his sensei later. With that he quickly took to the trees heading towards the village, now that he thought about it, he hadn't been inside the village for nearly two years, not while the sun was up anyways. Since Naruto was told that he couldn't go into the village during day time, Naruto had made the forest his play ground and had come to know the place and its inhabitants quite well. Naturally the animals have also learned of the blonde and many held respect because for one so little, the young human held a lot of ferocity that impressed even the fiercest of beasts in the forest, while many animals had learned the hard way not to ever make the blonde get mad at them. Naruto finally reached the outskirts of Konoha proper and observed the village silently from his spot at the tree. Yes the village indeed was beautiful when the sun was shining upon it, as everything looked brighter, pure, and livelier than Naruto had seen the village in a long time.

_IN THE HOKAGE TOWER_

"So Kakashi what did you want to talk to me about, it is unusual for you to actually accompany me when I go to see Naruto, what made you change your mind today?" asked the Sandaime, mildly interested in Kakashi's answer, knowing his connection to the blonde because of Minato.

"What do you mean?" asked Kakashi a little self consciously, had his little ploy to see Naruto's growth was already caught?

"Do not intend to play around with me young man," said the Hokage in a stern voice before continuing back in a normal tone. "You could have just as easily given me one of your elemental affinity papers and the scrolls when I asked you to come along but unlike the other times, this time you barely pit up a fight. I want to know what made you want to come and visit Naruto this time while you tenuously argued the other times that I asked you to accompany me to see my young pupil."

"Fine, you got me," said Kakashi with a sigh as he plopped down heavily in one of the chairs facing the Hokage. "Yes, I wanted to see Naruto because till now I have been avoiding my past but I knew that one day I will have to come to terms with it. Since that mission, I have never been able to forgive myself. Not for Obito, not for Rin, not for Minato sensei, and definitely not for Kushina nee-chan." The silver-haired nin stopped for a minute and for once Hiruzen was looking at the same scared eleven-year old boy rather than the strong and aloof former ANBU captain, one of the most famous and renowned Jounins of Konohagakure. "But after seeing the way Naruto used to handle being shunned and alienated by villagers and never losing his smile, I always wondered how he was able to keep that smile through all that pain, it was quite clear how he felt in his eyes but he tried his best to never show it. Now I know that he never really cared what people thought about him, he only cared about how he could give others what he never got. I finally figured out the answer to my question and it made me realize just how big of a coward I was, and just how strong the boy is and one day will become with the right guidance."

Inwardly, it seemed that a heavy weight had been lifted off the Sandaime's shoulders upon hearing such words coming from Kakashi Hatake. Even though Sarutobi had tried to make Kakashi realize that it was not his fault that his sensei, and the one he considered to be his older sister, had left the world, he still thought that if he was there, he would have at least been able to save at least one member of his family. After the death of Sakumo Hatake, Minato and Kushina had taken him in, given him a family and anything but adopted him as their elder son. It was understandable that he would take losing his family once more quite hard, but to blame it on himself, must have been much harder than Hiruzen thought. "I have told you before and I am telling you again Kakashi, it was not your fault that Rin and Obito are dead, and it is not your fault that you were not in the village when the Kyuubi got released. I know that Minato and Kushina would not have named you and Jiraiya as guardians of everything they had, including Naruto until he came of age, had they not loved you and that perverted student of mine had they not considered you both as family." Kakashi nodded, Minato-sensei always thought of the old pervert like a father, why the hell did he leave was still a mystery to the silver haired Jounin, but he knew that Jiraiya-sama had his reasons and it was not his place to question the great Sannin.

"Have you heard anything from Jiraiya-sama?" asked the masked Jounin. "You know he is legally Naruto's guardian now, I wonder what they will do to him once he goes over to the other side for ignoring Naruto and disregarding their last wishes so blatantly." Even the Sandaime shivered at the thought of the combined wrath of the Yellow-Flash and the Red Habanero.

"No I haven't heard anything from him in a long while. If Jiraiya had not given thought to that, he is a greater fool than I ever was," replied the Sandaime as a small smirk crossed his face. It had been nearly seven years since he had last spoken to Jiraiya or heard from him, not after Minato's funeral.

"Well, you are his sensei, I want to hear from you how much exactly Naruto has improved in the last two years?" asked Kakashi curiously, the boy's incredibly large chakra reserves and his infinite amounts of stamina could make him very strong at a young age.

"His acuity in ninjutsu and taijutsu is very good, and due to the fact that he is an Uzumaki and a Namikaze, his body is built both for power _and_ speed. He received the best genes from both sides of his family and with the Kyuubi inside him; his healing rate is off the charts." Hiruzen said and smiled when he revealed the Kyuubi's effects of high healing and recovery rate.

"Hmm, no wonder Gai is so enthusiastic with Naruto. He says that he had never met a taijutsu genius as amazing as Naruto to have mastered all the basics of his Gouken style in only a year, and to top that off, he is teaching Naruto two of his most famous moves, the advanced techniques of Konoha Whirlwind (Senpuu) and all the forms of Lotus," said Kakashi making the Sandaime sit up straighter in his chair.

"I hope he hasn't been teaching the boy to open his gates?" asked Hiruzen in a dead serious voice, a jinchuuriki should never open all their gates.

"Hokage-sama, Gai might be over-enthusiastic and maybe dense at times but he is no fool. He knows the restrictions that a jinchuuriki always faces plus he knows that Naruto is only seven, nobody in their right mind will teach a seven year old how to open their chakra gates," said Kakashi, assuring the Hokage that he had not made a negative choice when he appointed the spandex clad Jounin as a teacher for Naruto. "So what are your plans for the boy next? His Fuuinjutsu skills are quite impressive, are you going to work on that along with elemental chakra or are you going to focus more on taijutsu because his aptitude for that is beyond amazing?"

"Oh I do not intend to slow down on the boy, not by a long shot," assured the Hokage making the Jounin snap his eyes open. "Yes Kakashi, I am going to expand his jutsu arsenal with elemental techniques, and his Fuuinjutsu practice is going to go on because he understands fuuinjutsu quite well. His taijutsu is also something I am going to work on. Up until now he only knows the basics of Gouken and his perception for oncoming attacks is quite good since he can dodge almost everything I throw at him, so I am going to teach him to return the moves that he has been dodging for so long…" Sarutobi would have continued but stopped when Kakashi held his hand up.

"Exactly what moves have you been teaching the boy to dodge?" asked Kakashi, he knew that dodging attacks is very important for a ninja but if one can dodge just about any attacks then he is more suited to become an assassin or an ANBU rather than a regular ninja.

"Everything I could think of," replied the Hokage making the Jounin sweat-drop.

"Can you elaborate a little Hokage-sama?"

"Well I have throwing ninjutsu, taijutsu, and combinations of both at the boy and he has become an expert at anticipating and dodging most of them. I have also been using Frog Katas, and Monkey Fist Katas to teach him how to dodge both subtle and powerful attacks. Now I am going to teach him the basics of both and go from there. I know that I am a master at both the Frog Katas and the Monkey Fist so I should be able to make Naruto quite good at each. I have also asked Hayate to help out with his perception training a few times and Naruto is able to dodge most of his strikes unless he uses one of his chakra infused moves that he calls 'dances'," replied the Hokage.

Kakashi's only thoughts at that were "Dear Kami, I am lucky I did not get this slave driver as my sensei." After regaining his composure enough to trust his voice, he asked the Hokage his last question regarding Naruto. "How strong is he?"

"Accumulating all his skills and his chakra reserves he is standing at Chuunin level, quite a feat if you ask me only at the age of seven. But I am going to make him better than that by the time he is ready for graduation at the academy. Oh, and Kakashi, I want you to teach Naruto stealth, espionage and assassination techniques after he turns nine." Hiruzen stated more than asked but still the Jounin nodded, it would be nice to have a young and energetic blonde at the ANBU HQ rather than just masked shinobis who barely talked unless they needed to, and it was driving Tenzo up the wall that he was the squad leader of the worst group possible.

_KONOHA CENTRAL PARK_

Naruto was in a tree hiding as usual as he looked at the many children that were his age, younger and older all playing in groups at the park. It made him feel a little jealous that all these people had so many friends while he had none but their smiles and joyful faces always made him forget his own worries and just observe the nice atmosphere that the park had. The blonde, quietly but swiftly jumped to the next tree bringing him closer to the park and then after another jump he was inside. Nobody had noticed him so he continued to observe until his sharp hearing picked up soft sobs coming from a nearby tree. He quickly went to investigate and found a…pink haired girl? He had never seen anyone with that kind of bright pink hair but that was not what caught his attention. It was the fact that she was sitting there alone and crying. He was about to jump down and ask her what was bothering her when he saw three guys walking towards her.

"Huh, maybe they want to play with her," thought the blonde as he stayed in the position he was hiding in on the tree. But after seeing them, the girl shrank back even farther, her eyes darting this way and that as if looking for the quickest way to escape but the boys were already upon her, so she just gave up and hung her head low, trying to hide he forehead as much as possible.

"Hey look it's the girl with the huge forehead," called one of them as he pointed at her and laughed.

"Yeah, it's so huge one could use it as a board for a presentation," said another as all three howled with laughter. How could they not see that they were hurting the girl with their comments? Naruto was about to jump down to make them realize just how much they were hurting her when one of the boys cried out in pain clutching the back of his head. The other two boys whirled around to see a blonde girl staring at them with an angry frown on her face, and she was tossing another pebble with her right hand.

"What did you do that for?" asked one of the boys as he pointed at his hurt friend.

"Why did he start teasing that girl for?" replied the blonde angrily.

"Because she has a big forehead," replied the other boy as if that was a good enough reason to tease another person.

"Yeah, well your friend has a huge nose and I did not like it so I threw a stone at him," said the blonde girl, playing their own game on them.

"Wha…no he doesn't!" replied the boy furiously as he defended his friend who looked hurt more by the girl's comment than the pebble she had thrown.

"And I say that my friend over there does not have a big forehead," she said just as vehemently and the crying girl's head snapped up, her forest green eyes wide. "And if you say one worse thing to her, I will throw even more stones at you." Naruto was impressed at the blonde girl's bravado at the face of danger. There she was defending her friend against three boys that were bigger and looked much meaner than her, yes she deserved some applause for that alright. The boys looked at each other before they backed off from the blonde cautiously.

"Whatever," said one of them before the three of them ran off away from the scary blonde girl.

"So," said the blonde as she walked to the pink haired girl and sat down next to her.

"Why?" asked the green eyed girl as she looked at her blonde haired savior.

"Why what?" asked the other girl slightly confused.

"Why did you tell them that I did not have a huge forehead? I obviously have a very big and ugly forehead," she said as more tears welled up in her eyes before sliding down her already tear stained cheeks.

"I don't think so," said her companion in a small voice, but to her it meant so much more.

"Really?" asked the pinkette as a little hope blossomed in her at the words of the attractive blonde girl.

"Of course!" she replied enthusiastically as she gave a huge grin that made a small smile come to the tormented girl's face.

"My name is Sakura, what's yours?" she asked shyly as she looked at her new friend.

"Ino Yamanaka," she replied in a confident voice.

"Whoa, they didn't even know each other and still that Ino girl drove those bullies away?" thought Naruto as the respect he was already holding for the electric-blue eyed girl rose even more.

"Wanna be friends?" asked Ino as she extended her pinky towards Sakura, who wrapped her own pinky around it.

"Yes, best friends!" she said with a bigger smile.

"You know, you shouldn't hide your forehead with your hair, it makes it look all messy and uncared for," pointed out Ino making Sakura blush a little in embarrassment.

"Sorry," she said sheepishly.

"No worries," said the blonde haired girl brightly as she pulled out a red ribbon from the pocket of her pants. She quickly tied it around Sakura's hair, as she fixed her new friend's hair so that it did not spill all over her forehead. "There, now you look a lot better."

"Thanks," said Sakura earnestly before both girls smiled at each other broadly. Yes they were going to be good friends no matter what. As the girls got up to leave, Ino looked up as she had a sudden feeling that someone was up there. When she did, all she saw were a pair of sparkling dark blue eyes. As their eyes locked, Ino gave a soft smile. She had no idea why she smiled but it seemed like the right thing to do. Naruto scratched his head confused.

_KONOHA COUNCIL CHAMBER AT 4:00 PM_

The Konoha council convened again as was scheduled exactly two years ago when the council had said that they wanted to test the young jinchuuriki's progress under the Sandaime Hokage as his apprentice before making his title official. They had invited two proctors in the test as well. One was a new and quite popular teacher known as Hiraki and the other was Iruka Umino, who had gained his reputation as one of the harshest graders in any test were also in the council room waiting for the Sandaime Hokage. As the four tolls were sounded that alerted the current members that it was time for them to begin the council meeting, the Hokage strode into the room. He was followed by four ANBU, Kakashi Hatake, Maito Gai, and the newly promoted Jounin Kurenai Yuuhi.

"Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure, today we have convened here in this meeting to test your apprentice and see if he is as capable a shinobi as we had hoped for him to become under your guidance," said Homura Mitokado before retaking his seat. The Sandaime nodded as he stood up.

"I too hope that you can see the growth of my apprentice as a respectable shinobi under my guidance. I also hope he meets all the requirements that he is requested today by our most eligible academy instructors present here," the Hokage retook his seat. With a wave of his hand the guards at the door opened the council chamber's doors to permit a seven year old boy into the room. He was impressively built for someone for who is only seven years old.

"Damn that boy is going to become a lady killer," muttered Chouza next to Inoichi while his two friends chuckled at his comment. Yes, the boy was tall for his age, quite lean and athletic. His golden hair which was a tad bit taller which suited him perfectly and his dark blue eyes still held the sparkling quality which showed his mischievous and care free nature all too clearly. The whisker marks on his face were lighter but still very much noticeable because they seemed to have grown with his face. His sleeveless orange t-shirt showed off his defined arms quite well, and his dark cargo pants made a killer combination with the muted shade of orange.

"I just hope he does not meet my daughter anytime soon," said Inoichi in a low voice which elicited more laughter from his friends.

"But why?" asked Shikaku playfully. "They would look great together. Don't you think so Chouza?"

"Indeed, they look like they were made for each other," replied Chouza and they both chuckled when they heard the grinding sound that was coming from Inoichi's mouth as his jaw muscles seemed to be clenching and unclenching rapidly.

"Hello Naruto how was your day?" asked Iruka as Naruto marched up to the instructor's table and waited patiently for them to tell him what to do.

"Awesome, Iruka sensei! How was yours?" asked Naruto with a big grin.

"Busy as usual," replied the academy instructor.

"Okay, your first test will involve your skills with targets. As you can see we have three shurikens on this table, and you can also see the targets to your right. Take your aim from twenty feet of distance and try to his as close to the bulls-eye as possible," said Hiraki as he slid the three shurikens on his desk forwards towards Naruto. The blonde swept them off the desk and threw them in one swift motion; without even looking at the targets, but each had hit their targets dead in the bulls eye mark all right. The civilian side gasped while all the clan head nodded impressed at the blonde's skill with targets. He had shot all the projectiles from more than twenty five feet and he got it bang on.

"Impressive," muttered Inoichi and his friends agreed whole heartedly.

"Next we will test your genjutsu skills. We only test for the basic Transformation (Henge) technique," said Iruka.

"Who do you want me turn into," asked Naruto.

"Anyone in this room will be fine."

"Transformation technique!" said Naruto and was quickly engulfed in smoke before there stood the exact replica of the old war hawk Danzo Shimura wrappings and all, but there was one small difference. Instead of the regular robes that the cane wielding shinobi usually wore, Naruto was wearing a pair of gym shorts, a sleeveless white t-shirt and had the expression of utmost boredom on his face. It was all, most of the clan members could do to not laugh openly, but the civilian members were not so graceful and many of them got a good laugh out of this including the Sandaime Hokage, though he was smiling quietly.

"What is the meaning of this Hiruzen?" said the old war hawk in his grating voice but the anger behind it was so clear that all forms of amusement and laughter instantly died. The room fell in deadly silence as everyone looked expectantly at the Hokage for an answer.

"What is your meaning?" asked the Hokage innocently, but he knew he was only making his old teammate angrier than he was, and that usually was never a good idea but he couldn't help it. It was too tempting, and he hadn't had any good fun with his old friends for far too long.

"Tell your apprentice to stop this foolish and disrespectful behavior at once," demanded Danzo as he pointed at his replica with the cane.

"Ahh, but he is only doing what he was asked to do," replied Sarutobi just as innocently.

"Yes but that behavior defeats the purpose of the test. If he intends to turn into someone, their clothes and outwards appearance is very important when trying to fool their enemy's eyes. In this case anyone can easily discern that even though he might look like the delegate Danzo from Konoha, he definitely does not wear clothes like a teenager. Therefore they will easily be able to detect that this person is not me and won't at all be fooled by the attempted deception," countered the war hawk and his reasoning held much weight making the Hokage realize that his student might end up failing the test and gave his apprentice a meaningful look which he immediately understood. With another poof of smoke there stood the old war hawk this time with the same robes, the same blank and expressionless face, and the cane that he always carried with him.

"Very good Naruto, now onto the next part, the ninjutsu section," said Iruka hurriedly. "In this part, we test for two jutsus. The Replacement technique and the Clone technique, so let's get on with it."

Naruto nodded and made the hand seals rapidly and there were ten perfect clones standing next to them with lopsided grins on all of their faces. "Yep, he is the third's pupil alright," said Shikaku in a voice that said he-is-too-damn-good-hands-down. Then the clones all dispersed and Naruto performed the replacement technique with an empty chair perfectly.

"Impressive Naruto, that was undoubtedly one of the best displays of the Replacement technique I have seen," said Hiraki with a warm smile and Iruka agreed, the boy's skills were undeniable. "Now let us see your taijutsu." A man carried a moderately large and thick stump made of wood into the room. He placed it in front of Naruto before leaving.

"Naruto, we would like to see your hand to hand combat skills, you can perform all the moves that you know on this stump and we will decide how good your taijutsu is depending on the moves you use. Don't worry, that stump won't move at all, a binding technique has been placed on it," said Iruka and Naruto nodded in understanding before facing the wooden post once more. "Ready…start!" The blonde did something quite unexpected. He just cocked his arm back like he was going to give the stump his hardest punch, and that's exactly what he did, yet the results were very different from what most in the council chamber were expecting. With a loud rapport the top half of the stump exploded out showering everything in the room that was close to the boy with shrapnel and splinters. Many jaws hit the floor at the simple display of raw strength.

"Yosh Naruto, what a youthful punch!" shouted Gai ecstatically. The boy just gave a large grin as he stood there picking splinters off his arm like it was no big deal that he broke a solid wooden stump in half.

"Chouza, please tell me I am dreaming," said Shikaku as he blinked rapidly, but his large friend just shook his head.

"What I want to know is how Hokage-sama hardened that boy up so much. I know Ino would have thrown a tantrum if she had even got a prick on her arm, and here he is just picking off pieces of wood off his arm like they are just a minor inconvenience!" said Inoichi, his tone almost complaining.

"Uhh, do we pass him?" asked Iruka uncertainly but smiled when he heard two affirmatives.

"Absolutely," said two voices simultaneously. It was Chouza, patriarch of the Akimichi clan, and Tsume, matriarch of the Inuzuka clan. Both the clans were taijutsu experts so no one could really deny the boy's skill as far as hand-to-hand techniques were considered. "Even our pups that can perform the clan's Fang techniques aren't as effective as his punch was against that wooden stump," replied Tsume in her rich deep voice and her nin-dog barked in agreement.

"Well, in that case Naruto passes, and by the looks of it with extremely high marks!" said Iruka with a bright smile as he looked at the young blonde ninja in front of him, whom he had come to like very much over the past couple years.

"So does this mean that he can remain my apprentice?" asked the Sandaime Hokage as he stood up and addressed the whole council room. Choruses of 'yes' rose from most of the clan-heads with the exception of only Haishi Hyuuga, but no answer came from the civilian part of the council as they started whispering and discussing the matter among themselves. Finally after a long discussion Koharu stood up.

"It seems," she said in a grudging voice "that after discussing the issue thoroughly, we have come to the decision that the progress of Uzumaki Naruto has been undeniable as a shinobi and therefore he is now the official apprentice to our esteemed Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi." Her declaration brought quite a few smiles from the people present in the room and a very loud "Yosh, what youthful display of love in teacher and student!"

The meeting after that wrapped up very quickly and in a few minutes Naruto and Hokage were on their way back towards the Hokage tower. The young blonde had been promised ramen for dinner today, and the Hokage knew that he had earned it. "So sensei, I have a question for you," said the blonde as he happily jumped over the rooftops towards the Hokage tower. He and his teacher were nothing more than indistinguishable blurs.

"Hmm, what's that Naruto?" asked the Sandaime.

"Why are girls so weird?" Hiruzen stumbled but caught himself before falling.

**So you guys must be going like 'overpowered much?' Hell yeah, Naruto is a beast in my story and he will only get stronger, but still it shouldn't be that much of a stretch because by the time he is twelve his chakra reserves were twice the size of Kakashi's. Just a heads up there. But don't worry I don't intend to make the other shinobis weak either. You will understand my meaning once you read the next few chapters. Next chapter will be after a massive time skip, and the story is actually going to start from there. One question, what do you guys feel like when you picture Naruto and Kubiriki Bocho (Zabuza's sword) together? Let me know, majority vote wins. Ideas will be taken into account and any critical reviews will be welcome.**

**Thanks,**

**Tanneal. **


	4. Is there only one Road to Life?

**Is there only one road to life?**

**5 years and 7 months later**

Iruka walked in to the classroom after unlocking it in the morning. Today was hopefully not going to be as chaotic as he thought but with his new student nothing ever happened quietly. In the last seven years, a boy had become a large part of his life. This little boy had reminded him what it was to have a family and more importantly a younger sibling, something he never had even when his parents were alive. The academy teacher sighed as he sat down in the chair behind his desk. Now that the Chuunin thought about it he hadn't seen the blonde as often as he used to in the last three years. He would only catch the blonde if he came over to have dinner with the Hokage and his favorite 'aunty' as he liked to call Sandaime Hokage's daughter-in-law, and the grumpy 'uncle' which usually meant Asuma Sarutobi. Konohamaru has also become a second Naruto as his attitude to life and his behavior was a perfect copy of the young Jinchuuriki's and the boy would only listen to his 'Boss', as he liked call Naruto.

"HEY IRUKA SENSEI!" came a very loud shout that made Iruka land on the tiled floor of the class as he toppled from his chair.

"Wha…," he looked in the direction the shout had come from. "Naruto, how are you doing today?" asked the academy instructor politely as he regained his seat. He had learned a long time ago not to mess with the blonde, if you did; there was a hundred percent chance that you had made it to his 'people to prank on' list.

"Amazing," responded the blonde excitedly. Finally, after so long, finally the Hokage had allowed him to come to the village without any restrictions. "So what do I have to know?" he asked as he looked at Iruka expectantly, the blonde knew that there were rules and regulations in the academy and he did not want to break any that would get him expelled but the rest he could forget quite easily. Naruto soon realized it was a big mistake as Iruka happily launched into a forty minute tirade about how a young man should act properly in the academy and show respect to his teachers and elders while behaving appropriately with classmates and peers. By the time he was done, there was only twenty or so minutes left before classes started and a boy with raven black hair walked into the classroom. He was the only student besides the blonde but he showed no signs of acknowledging his presence as he took his seat in his usual spot and started brooding about something.

"Who's he?" whispered Naruto as he indicated towards the only other student in the class.

"That is Sasuke Uchiha, the rookie of the year, but Naruto I warn you stay clear of that boy. His mental stability had been off balance since he had seen his parents being murdered in front of him and his only goal in life is to take the life of the one who massacred his clan. As a result he is slowly but definitely becoming obsessed with becoming as powerful as he can and challenges anyone who he thinks is strong. Only me and you in this whole academy knows about your true abilities and let's keep it that way okay?" replied Iruka in a similar hushed tone so that everything he had said stayed out of the Uchiha's ears. Naruto nodded but to Iruka's disappointment took the seat that was just next to Sasuke's.

Iruka might not have realized it but the spot next to Sasuke's was the second-best spot in the whole room strategically to have a ready escape and full view of the class room along with the windows. Sasuke had a lot of practice in choosing a good spot in the classroom because he had to avoid fan girls since he had turned nine. He had the best position in the classroom to escape as unnoticeably as possible and also the seat that had the quickest escape if he ever needed to get away in a hurry. Since Sasuke had showed no interest whatsoever in Naruto and the blonde has been keeping it to himself, Iruka relaxed in his chair while the first bell rang. Students poured into the classroom and soon enough it was nearly full.

"Yo you are new here right?" asked a lazy voice and Naruto turned to see a boy with a spiky ponytail looking at him.

"Yeah, what's up?" asked Naruto with a smile that made the lazy Nara instantly like the laid back blonde boy.

"Name's Shikamaru Nara, what's yours?" he asked as he took the seat behind the blonde boy.

"Naruto Uzumaki," the blonde replied as a plump boy came and sat next to the Nara before pulling out a bag of chips.

"Uzumaki? Never heard that name before, but it sounds cool," he commented as he tore open the bag and offered to share it with Naruto and Shikamaru. Both declined but Naruto liked the plump boy's want to share his food and befriend someone he had never met before.

"Thanks, what's your name?"

"Choji Akimichi," he replied between bites but did give the blonde a friendly smile.

"Hey Akamaru, look we have a newbie!" shouted a boy from the doorway with a smirk on his face.

"Kiba please try not to pick a fight with him," said Shikamaru with a pleading tone but Kiba just gave him a smirk before turning back to the Blondie. Naruto stood up and Kiba took a step back.

"Holy Kami, the dude is buff," thought Kiba as Naruto came to his full height, and he suddenly noticed how ripped the boy's arms looked. He wasn't the only one, many in the room looked at their new classmate in awe, and some just gawked openly, especially the females in the room. The sleeves of his simple orange t-shirt were stretched due to the muscles in his arms and standing at five feet, six inches, he was taller than most of the students in the class.

"Hey Akamaru is a nice name," he said giving a bright smile to Kiba and the dog that was looking at him from the top of his partner's head. Akamaru gave an approving bark before jumping on Naruto's shoulder and giving his cheek a quick lick.

"Good dog," said Naruto as he patted Akamaru's head, much to the amazement of the rest of the class. Many of the people in the class disliked the dog because he usually acted feral and fierce to others in the room, and that was expected since he was nin-dog. But with this new student he behaved more like a pet dog.

"Well, if Akamaru likes ya, then I guess we can be friends too," said Kiba as Akamaru retook his original position and Kiba extended his hand. Naruto took it and gave it a firm shake.

"Sure dude," he said flashing the boy another grin before retaking his seat. The Inuzuka took his seat behind Shikamaru as another bell rang indicating that it was time for the class to start.

"I GOT HERE FIRST FORHEAD!" screeched a voice from the doorway and many flinched at its extremely high pitch.

"OUT OF MY WAY INO-PIG!" screeched a second voice as Naruto turned to look at the people who were screaming names at each other and froze. No way, he couldn't believe it. Blonde hair, light-blue eyes? Check. Pink hair, green eyes? Check. These two were the same girls that he had seen in the park all those years ago and he thought that they would have become the best of friends after the way they met, yet here these two were fighting, but over what? He suddenly realized that they were fighting to take the only seat that was left next to his silent neighbor Sasuke Uchiha. They were fighting over a boy?

"Hey is Sasuke that amazing?" he whispered as he turned to talk to Shikamaru who had his head in his hands and a look of supreme boredom on his face.

"Huh? Why would you think he is amazing?" asked the Nara slightly confused.

"Well because two of the most beautiful girls in this class are fighting for the seat next to Sasuke," replied Naruto like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh, yeah that's because he is really popular," clarified Shikamaru.

"But why is he so popular, did he do something amazing?" asked Naruto because he knew that popularity only came with deeds of equal measure. He had never lived in a society where popularity might come because of looks or attitude or persona, he had lived among hard core shinobis and in that world popularity and status was gained through hard work and even harder deeds accomplished in the field.

"Uhh, not really," said Shikamaru looking at the blue-eyed newcomer strangely. "He is popular because he acts cool, and is really smart, and is I guess handsome because Ino does not ever stop about how good looking he is."

"That's it?" asked Naruto completely confused.

"Dude where the heck did you come from? What else makes someone as popular as Sasuke?" asked Kiba sarcastically.

"What about being strong, having the will to never give up, never going back on their word?" asked Naruto as Shikamaru's head slumped and Choji started eating his chips faster.

"Man, no offense, but you sound like the Hokage," laughed Kiba as he rolled his eyes.

"Is that a bad thing?" asked Naruto as his eyes hardened and his voice became cold. Nobody insulted his teacher without having a good reason or else they pay for every insult and this boy had just done that. Iruka noticed the killer intent that Naruto was releasing and instantly red bells went off in his head, he knew Kiba was casual with his words but Naruto took no bullshit when it came to people he cared about.

"Crap," muttered Iruka as he grabbed Naruto's shoulder before sushining out of the classroom.

"What the hell did you do that for?" growled Naruto as soon as Iruka released him.

"Naruto calm down!" Iruka said as he frantically waved his hands in front of the twelve year old's face.

"And why should I, he insulted my teacher, and therefore indirectly me, this village's leader and pride, and the Hokage name!" said Naruto indignantly.

"Naruto," Iruka took a long breath, this was going to be tough. "I know you feel strongly about this because you are so close to Hokage-sama and you know the true value of someone who is a Hokage. Not everyone, especially academy students like Kiba, is as familiar with the idea of what the Hokage represents or stands for. You know very well that as a shinobi you are far above than any student in this school and have a very good idea of what it means to be a ninja and what responsibilities they have. These academy students don't know a fourth of what you have learned and they lack the understanding of what a Shinobi is. Be patient and try not to attack someone just because their arrogance gets the better of them. You have to remember that in comparison to you they are very…inexperienced." The blonde stood there stock still as he soaked in everything that the academy instructor said. "Naruto please promise me that you will at least hold back. Look there is only one week left before you all graduate and then you will be under your Jounin senseis and you know they will teach the proper meaning of a shinobi to all their students."

"Fine Iruka sensei, I will keep my cool but only for you," said the blonde as he regained most of his composure.

"Thank you Naruto, that is all I ask," said Iruka as they walked back to the classroom. Everybody in the room stared at the blonde because of his and their teacher's sudden disappearance from the class. Iruka suddenly remembered that he had completely forgotten to introduce his new student to the rest of the class.

"Class we have a new student joining us today," he announce as he indicated Naruto with his hand. "Please welcome Naruto Uzumaki."

"Wow, I didn't realize he was that tall," said a girl's voice in the back somewhere.

"And cute too," came a snarky comment and again nobody could tell who it was but many of the girls booed at that because they were obviously fans of the dark and mysterious Sasuke.

"Well he is ripped," came another comment and Iruka had to hold back the smile that would have otherwise split his face in half, looks like Sasuke has some competition.

"Alright, alright, settle down," said their instructor. It was time for class to begin. "Now listen up, since we have the graduation test coming up we will have a practice day today. As you already know there will be four parts to the exam, we will first practice our genjutsu and ninjutsu before moving onto target practice. Then we will pair off against each other with partners against taijutsu. Is that understood?" he asked and heard choruses of 'yes' and 'understand'. "Alright let's head to the eastern field, form a single line please."

"Hey this sounds fun," said Naruto as they headed out but Shikamaru looked annoyed. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, it just means that Sasuke will wipe the floor with someone and then his fan-girls will swoon over him some more. That is what it usually means when we practice," replied Shikamaru in a bored tone as he quoted 'practice' with his fingers.

"Well that does suck," thought the young jinchuuriki as he headed out to the field along with his new friends Shikamaru, Choji and Kiba.

The genjutsu test went over and most of the class performed the transformation jutsu quite easily. The ninjutsu section also went well and many showed off more than just the two techniques that would be tested on, which was quite entertaining and impressive in some cases. Sasuke's grand fireball and Kiba's fang over fang took the top on the list, with Choji's human-meatball a close second. It was with target practice that everything started going south.

"Sasuke Uchiha," called Iruka and Sasuke sauntered forwards to the fifteen feet line from which he had to throw all the shurikens into the post. As far as Naruto could deduce, the class in general was not very good with targets. Not a single one had managed to get all the shurikens they were given in the post what they were supposed to put it in. The best at target up till now was a boy named Shino Aburame, and he had managed to get six of the eight on the indicated post.

"Go Sasuke-kun," shouted a few girls and many more joined in until it became a full blown chant. "Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke."

"See I told you," said Shikamaru and all Naruto could do was stare. Really? How could one boy be the favorite of so many people, it was unreal. And that too because he just _looked_ cool? Unbelievable, what did he possess that none of the other boys in this class did? Yes he was an Uchiha, in fact the last Uchiha, but still. The only girl that he had seen not cheer for the black eyed boy was a purple haired girl named Hinata Hyuuga. Sasuke took the shurikens that Iruka had offered and threw them in swift motions. He turned around coolly before his last shuriken even hit the post, but all eight of them had hit the intended target. At least his skill was undeniable.

"Naruto Uzumaki," called Iruka and Naruto went forward.

"Really? You are going to test me on this?" asked Naruto in a hushed tone as he took the shurikens from Iruka.

"I know but for appearance's sake just do it," Iruka whispered back and Naruto nodded. He looked back at the rest of the class, which was in the opposite direction of the post and threw the shurikens, all eight of them together. He did not have to look back to know his shurikens had hit the mark because eyes had gown wide, and many mouths hung open.

"Good job Naruto," said Iruka giving him a pat on the back when Kiba spoke up.

"Good job?" he echoed hollowly. "That was freakin' AMAZING!" shouted the Inuzuka and many more boys instantly agreed.

"Now now class, don't get too excited, but I agree that was quite impressive Naruto," said Iruka in a pleased voice.

"Thanks Sensei," said Naruto with a nod.

"No way did you see that?" asked Ino as she looked from the blonde haired boy to her ex-friend and now rival, Sakura.

"Yeah, that was almost unreal," she replied, also impressed by his skills. "But I bet that my Sasuke-kun will kick his ass in taijutsu," she said and Ino did not miss the remark's hidden message, directed at her.

"Your Sasuke-kun? Forehead, he's mine!" shot back Ino making Sakura turn on her rival.

"No he is mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"There they go again," said Kiba in an annoyed voice and Naruto had to agree, he was at the school only a few hours and this battle for Sasuke was already getting on his nerves.

"How long have they been like this?" asked Naruto, he knew that something like this did not take too long to fester and grow. These girls had to break out of their infatuation before it turned into obsession. They had already broken their friendship over the boy, who knew what they would do next. Naruto's thoughts were interrupted as another bell rang.

"Alright students, lunchtime, we will pick up after lunch," announced Iruka and all the students obediently filed out into the cafeteria.

"Finally," said Choji and Kiba barked out laughing.

"Dude how can you be hungry, you have been eating constantly?" Kiba said making Choji blush a little in embarrassment.

"Kiba, the same comment everyday is not funny anymore," said Shikamaru as they found an empty table to sit on.

"So Naruto, what made you join the ninja academy, and that too only a week before graduation?" asked the Nara heir as he bit into his apple.

"Oh you know, I changed my mind about becoming…an artist and I had a really good sensei that taught me everything I needed to know to do well in the academy," lied Naruto as he had no idea what would sound like a good and convincing reason.

"Yea good choice, being an artist is hard," agreed Kiba, and surprisingly he was neither joking nor being sarcastic about it.

"What do you know anything about being an artist?" asked Choji and Kiba chewed his food thoughtfully before answering.

"You know my sister Hana?" asked Kiba and both Choji and Shikamaru nodded. She was one of the best vets out there and her nin-dog trio was famous because they had the best tracking skills in the whole Inuzuka clan. "She is also a really great painter. When I was young, I asked her about her painting because I thought it was awesome how she could make pictures out of blank paper like that. And she said that to become a good painter someone needs to practice a lot and needed to give it time and dedication. I didn't believe her at first and thought about giving it a try myself; it came out horrible so I gave up." Naruto frowned, why he had to give up, if he had kept on trying, he would have become just as good as his sister. The blonde was about to give his two-cents on the matter when Shikamaru spoke up.

"I totally get where you are coming from dude, sometimes things are just too troublesome to bother with," he said sagely and Kiba nodded in agreement. The young jinchuuriki was about to argue, when his senses started going off and he jumped sideways out of his seat. A kunai thunked into the wooden chair where he had been sitting less than a second ago. There was note tied to it. A stream of curses flew from Kiba's mouth and Naruto picked it up, someone was playing a dangerous game. He opened the note and read it out loud to the people sitting with him.

_Listen up new boy, I don't know who you are or where you came from but you are strong. I want to test you and see just how strong I have become. Request me as your taijutsu partner and I will do the same._

_Sasuke Uchiha._

"That little…" Shikamaru was about to curse when Naruto held up his hand and he closed his mouth. Naruto was thinking hard about what he should do, his teacher had told him to hide his true skills in the academy, that meant that he would have to lose to the rookie of the year, but this kind of behavior was unacceptable. Naruto quickly tabulated the pros and cons of this in his mind and came to a decision. "Is he always this demanding?" the blonde finally asked, surprising his new friends that he was not in the least bit fazed by the daring stunt that the Uchiha heir had pulled on him.

"Hey, you can't be serious about this," said Kiba a little bit worried about his new friend. That Sasuke had learned the basics of the Uchiha style of taijutsu, and even though he did not have the Sharingan, their style was brutal and unrelenting. Nobody in his class could stand up to the Uchiha in taijutsu for that reason.

"I know that this is dangerous but he is leaving me no choice," replied the young jinchuuriki with a blank face.

"Well, it's your call finally but be careful of him, he is after all the strongest one among us," said Kiba, and got a silent nod before the blonde got up.

"What do you think he is going to do?" asked Kiba as he looked at Naruto who throwing his plate and the empty juice cartons away.

"He is a lost cause, he is going to take on Sasuke, but I am not sure who will win this time," replied Shikamaru mysteriously before getting up himself.

Fifteen minutes later everyone was back outside in the grounds as they were being paired off against their taijutsu partners. Naruto and Sasuke did not have to ask for partners since they were paired against each other because their names were one right after the other on the roster.

"Well good luck man," said Kiba and Choji gave him a pat on the shoulder while Shikamaru just looked at him worriedly. The fights were fairly good but most lasted only three to four minutes. Kiba, and Choji won easily, and even Shikamaru did, though his taijutsu was weak. Ino and Sakura fought to a draw. The rest of the fights weren't that interesting to Naruto but most of them ended quickly and without too much happening. Finally it came down to the last one.

"You know the rules: no weapons, or techniques other than taijutsu. Begin!"

Sasuke and Naruto both faced each other cautiously as they circled one another slowly. There was small twitch in Sasuke's leg and Naruto's senses went off. The black haired boy charged, and Naruto was ready. He waited with a nonchalant look on his face and Sasuke smirked, the blonde wouldn't know what hit him, at least that's what he thought until he reached Naruto. As Sasuke gave a powerful kick to the seemingly uncaring blonde, he suddenly lost sight of his opponent. "What? Where did he go?" thought Sasuke as he whirled around to see him standing there with an expressionless look on his face as he scratched the back of his head. Sasuke's anger flared and he attacked his opponent again in a flurry of combinations, punches, and kicks but the blonde dodged each and every attack fluidly and without even trying.

"Holy…how is he doing that?" wondered Kiba out loud and many nodded, what the blonde was doing was…well something they had never seen before.

"What kind of katas are those?" thought Iruka silently.

_AT THE HOKAGE TOWER_

The Sandaime Hokage stood in front of three of the most capable Jounins that will become the instructors for the graduating Genins in the next week. He had a list of all the genins along with their abilities filed in front of them and he was just listening to them as they discussed about the teams and what combinations would make a good team. "I believe that recreating the Ino-Shika-Cho trio would be ideal," suggested Asuma as he had instantly noticed that all three clan heirs were of the same age and would be graduating this year.

"Yes that does seem like the ideal combination seeing the original Ino-Shika-Cho's success rate," agreed Kurenai Yuuhi. "What about you Kakashi, would you like to teach that team?"

"I can't," replied the stoic Jounin in an annoyed voice and the Sandaime could guess that the Council was involved somehow as they were talking to the former ANBU captain before he came to this meeting.

"What' the matter Kakashi?" asked Asuma as he looked at his friend with a raised eye-brow.

"The council pretty much just ordered me to take the team that has Uchiha Sasuke in it," replied the Jounin, his annoyed countenance spreading to all the members that were present in the room.

"But how can they do that? Isn't it strictly ninja matters?" asked Kurenai, being a Jounin for only a few months, she was not aware of the council's eternal warfare against the Hokage in stealing his power over the ninjas and making it their own.

"Yes, looks like I have to deal with them again," said the Hokage in an exasperated voice, wasn't life hard enough as it is?

"Wait, Naruto's name is on the list," said Kurenai with a small smile and Asuma went to look at it over her shoulder.

"I want the boy in my team," stated the bearded Jounin flatly much to the dislike of the two other Jounins in the room.

"Wait, no, I want him in my team," countered the crimson eyed kunoichi, also known as the 'Genjutsu Mistress' of Konoha.

"What makes you think that he will go into the teams with either of you as his Sensei?" asked Kakashi with a smug look on his face, yes he knew the boy the longest and had the strongest bond with him out of all the three Jounins in the room. Hiruzen looked on in amusement as the Jounins argued about why they should be Naruto's teacher since each of them had been the boy's instructor in one thing or another in the past. Kurenai had been invaluable in teaching Naruto how to detect and break out of genjutsus. The boy had very little talent to perform them, but he had become excellent at detecting genjutsus and breaking them, making him a very fearsome ninja indeed. Asuma had been a great help in teaching the boy about Nature manipulation and also taught him many exercises that helped him gain an amazing amount of control over his wind affinity. The boy had learned quite a few strong wind-based jutsus from the chain-smoker. Last, but definitely not least, was Kakashi Hatake, an ex-ANBU captain and a master at stealth, espionage, and assassination techniques. He had taught Naruto everything he knew about being an ANBU and more about how to avoid being detected in even the worst case scenarios. The boy's aptitude towards stealth and avoiding getting detected was surprisingly strong and Kakashi had found a very enthusiastic and energetic little protégé of his own in the hyper-active blonde.

"Please calm down, all this noise is making me feel un-well," said the Hokage in a raised voice and immediately made the argument that the Jounins were having come to an end.

"Is your symptoms acting up again?" asked Asuma, he was worried about the failing health of his father in the recent years. He had returned to Konoha about four years ago and had immediately joined in active duty as a Jounin to be with his ailing father. There were still major family issues among them, but Asuma respected and loved his Father enough to be with him when he was needed the most. It had also given him a chance to meet his nephew, Konohamaru, and give him a father-figure to look at when it was required.

"No, no nothing like that," said the Hokage with a dismissive wave of his hand before settling down. "To tell the truth, even I don't know whose team to place him on. He has history with each of you, and has formed a unique relationship with every sensei he has had. Even Gai had requested Naruto to be on his team but I denied him because his team members were older than Naruto and he hadn't entered the academy when Gai became the Jounin sensei for Team Nine. It all comes down to the real reason for which he entered the academy in the first place." The Hokage sighed before noticing the slip of his tongue. Now all the Jounins look at him with a questioning face that demanded an answer. "Iruka suspects that a teacher in the academy intends to leave the village to join a dangerous missing-nin and he intends to steal the Scroll of Seals by any means necessary before he departs and Iruka suspects that it will happen sometime this week," the Hokage explained making the Jounins nod, yes clever strategy on their Hokage's part indeed. Sending in Naruto to find out a mole was smart because nobody will suspect an academy student to be able to do anything about it.

"I still want him on my team," muttered Kurenai silently and it did not go unnoticed by the three others in the room. The argument resumed in full heat.

"Wait, wait ,wait!" said the Hokage in panic as he held his hand up, he knew he did not want another argument in his office this soon, he already had a head ache. "Before you start arguing, do the three of you know at what level Naruto's skills are at right now, and what he needs most improvement on?"

"Not exactly," said Asuma as he scratched his head, and the other two Jounins concurred with nods. It would help them better judge whose group the blonde should go in, after all they still wanted what was best for the boy.

"Hmm, I don't either," said Sarutobi with a long sigh and the others sweat-dropped.

"Well, Hokage-sama, if we don't how will we know which sensei will benefit him the most?" asked Kurenai in a concerned voice.

"But you are his sensei, you should know what his level of skill is," said Asuma in a bored tone making the Hokage sigh.

"Asuma, I am not his only sensei and you know that. He has been spending time with you learning about wind jutsus. He has also been going to Kurenai who has helped him a lot with his genjutsu training. Kakashi has been teaching him how to control his secondary affinities and also helping him with his stealth, espionage, and assassination training with Anko. Maito Gai has also been giving him intense conditioning and strength training, but I have a pretty good idea of what level Naruto has reached with that. So you can tell me how well he is doing with everything, and I will be able to gauge at what level he is in after I add in his taijutsu, perception, and Fuuinjutsu skills," said the Hokage. Even though all the Jounins knew just how much Naruto trained, every time they heard it being said out loud, they were always surprised.

"I will tell you how far he has gone under my tutelage," began Asuma and continued when nobody interrupted. "He started with C-level wind jutsus, but his dedication is unbelievable. Then he added his clones and his training progressed exponentially. In a year he had moved onto B-level jutsus and by the end of the second year, he had a quite a few A-level ones under his belt. He started on some S-class jutsus but there aren't much wind-jutsus that are that strong in Konoha. So he is currently working on two and has mastered only one." The Hokage nodded and looked towards Kurenai for her to continue.

"Naruto has come a long way from where he started. He has began to detect almost any genjutsus as soon as they are thrown at him, his perception at detecting them are amazing. At breaking them we had to work for quite a bit but his chakra control is pretty good so he did not take too long to understand the concept of disrupting his chakra. Ones he got the hang of it he quickly progressed and is now what I would consider a genjutsu-counter expert," at the Kunoichi's description, the Hokage raised his eyebrows but did not contradict her, only noted it down mentally before turning to the last Jounin in his office.

"Well you know Naruto…" said Kakashi with a chuckle but was cut off rudely.

"Give a straight answer Hatake," said Asuma, his voice sounded like the cold crack of a whip in the silent office.

"Maa, maa no need to get hostile Asuma," said Kakashi with an eye smile but noticed the Hokage's steady glare on him and gulped. He better starts talking, and fast, realized the silver haired Jounin. "His stealth training is going great; he is picking up things quite quickly and the way I, Anko, and even Tenzo who sometimes join us, have started training him, he has advanced much more than we thought but we are extremely pleased with his performance and advancement in this field. I would say he is in the level of a top ANBU operative, not yet on the level of a squad leader, but a good enough agent that can infiltrate, collect information, and assassinate any obstacle when needed and use his skills appropriately enough that no one will know who is behind it unless he wants them to." Kakashi paused, and he knew that he had not fabricated the boy's skills at all. Yes the blonde boy was a prodigy like he had never seen before, but one whose level will never grace the minds and the history of Konoha. "As for his secondary affinities, he has quite a few Katon and Suiton jutsus that he has mastered. He is currently working on an S-level water jutsus and two A-level fire jutsus."

"By all accounts, it looks like he is a high level Jounin already," answered Hokage after mulling over all the things he had learned from the teachers of Naruto for a few minutes.

"A very impressive profile, should he not be in the field then?" asked Kurenai a bit hesitantly, she was well aware just how protective their Hokage was when Naruto was concerned.

"Yes, but he has no field experience, none whatsoever," said the Hokage and nobody could really argue with his thoughts, Asuma and Kakashi were pretty sure that Naruto had never gotten out of the walls of Konoha in his entire life.

"Well, that still does not tell us in whose team he should be," said Kakashi as he looked at the Hokage with a questioning look.

"True," replied the Hokage.

_IN THE NINJA ACADEMY SCHOOL GROUNDS_

Sasuke panted heavily frustrated and impressed by his blonde opponent. The boy seemed to disappear every time he got close enough to attack but acted like he did nothing at all as he just kept looking back at the Uchiha with an innocent look on his face. Sasuke hasn't been able to land a single hit on Naruto, and the blue-eyed boy hadn't attempted to fight back either, he had just kept on dodging making the Uchiha get more and more impatient and flustered. It had been more than twenty minutes and nothing had happened except Sasuke charging again and again and his opponent dodging or evading him every time. But where the Uchiha looked tired and worn out, it looked like his opponent hadn't even broken a sweat.

"Alright, that's enough," said Iruka bringing the match to an end.

"But nobody has even landed a hit yet Iruka-sensei," protested Sakura and many seemed to agree that the match was stopped before it even began.

"I know that Sakura, but I have to say that it is a draw. Neither opponent had landed a hit on the other in the last twenty minutes; I think that makes it clear that both of them are on the same level in taijutsu capabilities," said the Chuunin, though he knew that was a complete lie, and many groans were heard in coming from the gathered students. Finally, they had seen a boy that could match the Uchiha in skill but their teacher had stopped the fight before it even got intense.

"I guess you are right," muttered the pink haired Kunoichi. She might have been an avid fan-girl for Sasuke but she was not blind or stupid. She could see that her crush's opponent had not even tried to hit Sasuke and had dodged all his attacks.

"You know that new student might be better than Sasuke," whispered a voice in her ears and she turned to see Ino.

"Hmm, it was surprising," replied Sakura with a nod, nobody in their class could touch Sasuke when it came to ninja skills and yet a new student had made him look inferior that had to say something about the blonde boy's skills as a shinobi.

"Hey man that was awesome!" shouted Kiba as they headed back to the classroom; many were now looking at their blonde classmate with different eyes now that he had proven that he was equal if not better than their class's top student.

"I know, I have never even seen those kinds of taijutsu moves," said Choji as he crumpled an empty chips bag and threw it in the trash before pulling out a new one.

"Oh that was nothing," said Naruto as he rubbed the back of his head. He looked a little embarrassed at all the attention he was suddenly getting from his classmates. Soon they were all back in class and there were only a few minutes left before school day ended, so Iruka let them just talk the last few minutes.

"So Naruto, what are you going to do after school," asked Shikamaru, he and Choji planned to go by the lake and watch clouds.

"I haven't really thought about it but I know I don't have much to do," replied Naruto and Shikamaru nodded.

"You know, you could come with us, we are going to go to the lake and relax," said the Nara.

"You and who else?" asked Naruto curiously.

"Hmm, oh it's just me and Choji, sometimes Kiba comes along but today he has to help his sister in the kennels," said Shikamaru earning a laugh from Choji.

"Yea, he and his sister has to clean it," he said and everybody knew what that meant.

"Sure why not," muttered Naruto as the bell rang, indicating that classes were over for the day.

_AT THE LAKESIDE_

"Isn't it a relaxing place?" asked Shikamaru contentedly as he made himself comfortable by lying down on grass and gazing lazily at the sky.

"Mm-hmm," replied Choji, he was happily munching on chips as he sat down next to Shikamaru and Naruto sat down next to Choji.

"This place is so calm, I like it," said Naruto. There were no one there except for the three of them, and the weather was great. Naruto felt another chakra signature moving towards them, fast. He did not need to look to know that a certain Uchiha was moving, and at quite good speed. He also felt another chakra signature, someone was following him.

"Man, what a drag," muttered Shikamaru as raised voices reached them it sounded like a heated argument was going on between two people and Naruto's curiosity got the best of him so he stood up and went to see what was going on. He was not surprised when nobody followed him. Naruto took to the trees and quickly arrived to the place where Sasuke and Sakura were talking. He kept himself hidden and looked on from his perch on the branch.

"What is it Sakura?" asked Sasuke as he turned and glared at the pink haired girl.

"But…but if we became friends—" Sakura started but was cut off by Sasuke.

"Then what, that I would like you?" he asked in a tone that said he despised the idea of befriending the kunoichi in front of him.

"But Sasuke-kun, why don't you at least give me a chance?" pleaded Sakura, and Naruto could tell from his spot in the tree that tears had gathered in her eyes.

"Why would I? You are just like everyone else, always trying to get me to like you. It's the same every day, why don't you just leave me alone!" the Uchiha's voice was going higher and higher in volume with each word, and Sakura visibly winced at his words as tears streaked down her eyes.

"Damn," thought Naruto, now concerned for the pink haired girl. "It's almost exactly the same situation as the time when we were seven, but back then she had Ino, now they behave like bitter enemies against each other when the Uchiha is concerned." He continued to look as Sakura sat down on the nearby bench. She wiped her tears fiercely but they kept spilling over again and again. Sasuke had already left, not caring for his classmate one bit. Naruto was about to jump, when Ino landed in front of Sakura and looked every direction before her eyes landed on Sakura.

"Darn it, I bet she talked to Sasuke-kun and I completely missed my chance," thought the blonde haired kunoichi angrily until she noticed that Sakura was crying but was trying to hide her tears from her rival. Ino's eyes softened, a girl never took rejection as easily as boy did, or got over them as quickly. She slowly walked to the bench and sat down next to her, quietly.

"I assume you talked to him," she asked as Sakura seemed to have stopped shedding tears and was regaining her composure slowly. She nodded but kept her gaze firmly fixed at her feet. "And he left like he always does," Ino concluded to herself loudly, annoyed at her crush's behavior, but then again that was one of his charms, she supposed. There was movement to her right and she turned to see Naruto, standing there leaning against a tree. "What do you want?" Ino asked rudely, she was in no mood to listen to snarky comments from other boys. He slowly walked towards them but stopped when he was about three feet away from them looked at them with something akin to…sympathy? Sadness?

"Why do you do this to yourselves?" he asked and even Sakura looked up at this, confusion written on the faces of both the girls.

"What do you mean?" asked Ino, now curious to hear what the blonde in front of her was talking about.

"I mean, you both were like the best friends and then you broke that just because of one boy?" he said taking a blind stab in the dark, he never knew if Sakura and Ino had become good friends at all.

"Well he is special," said Sakura in a small voice, she had to defend her crush right?

"How is he special?" asked Naruto completely confused, were these two blind or did they live in a fantasy world?

"He just is okay? And why the hell do you care anyway?" said Ino angrily, she did not like it when someone talked like this boy was to Sakura.

"I care because I understand what it feels like when you want someone to accept you and acknowledge you, and how much it hurts when that does not happen," replied Naruto, his voice dark, and his eyes shadowed. It scared the girls to hear the amount of emotion just in the boy's voice. Ino was to first to recover.

"Y-you do?" she asked uncertainly and got a silent nod.

"Do you truly believe that he is worth it?" asked the young jinchuuriki as he looked at both the girls, but they avoided his gaze.

"Ino, Sakura, please look at me," he said as he took a step closer towards them. The obeyed and looked at his eyes, it showed he was worried and concerned for them. But why, he did not even know them, yet here he was trying to make them feel a little better. "I don't know or understand why you like Sasuke so much, but let me tell you this. No boy is worth more than the relationship you two had forged that day in the park." Shocked pair of green and blue eyes stared at him.

"How do you know?" asked Sakura, he was not one of the boys that had said all those hurtful things to her that day.

"I was at the park that day," replied Naruto but left it at that. He was studying the girls carefully now as they looked like they were thinking about the times that they had spent together. "You know, if you choose one road in life, it doesn't mean you have to abandon all the others," commented Naruto and forced the girls to think even harder about their friendship. Sakura remembered how she and Ino used to play together and how Ino had raised her confidence and self-esteem whenever people talked about her forehead. Ino was one of the best things that happened to her and she broke their friendship over Sasuke who did not even care for her. Ino on the other hand was thinking about how much loved Sakura when they were younger, almost like a little sister. She used to save her from bullies and played together. She also remembered the time when Sakura broke their relationship because of Sasuke and how much it hurt her. Was it possible that they were wrong and this boy might be right? Both Ino and Sakura broke out of their thoughts at the same time before looking at each other, really looking at each other.

"Is it…too late?" asked Ino, her eyes locking with Sakura's and staying there.

"I am sorry," said Sakura suddenly as all the walls between them came crashing down and they both hugged each other fiercely. They said comforting things to one another for a long time after that and finally broke the hug. They were surprised to see Naruto was still there, but he was sitting against a tree so that they could have some privacy. Sakura and Ino both walked up to the blonde and Ino offered him her hand which he took with a smile.

"So…" he said as he hopefully looked from one girl to the other.

"So we think you are right. It was kind of stupid of us that the strong bond we had formed all those years ago was broken because of a crush," said Ino and Sakura nodded her head in agreement.

"That's good to hear," said the blonde boy. "So what about Sasuke?"

"I don't know," said Ino but Sakura spoke up.

"We still like him, but we are never going to let it affect our friendship, ever again," she said with a smile to Naruto who couldn't help but smile back.

"So do you guys have any plans?" he asked the girls and Ino looked at the time before sighing loudly.

"I have a shift in the shop in an hour," she replied, Ino totally lost track of time with all the things that happened today.

"Hey, I wanna go and help you. I haven't talked to Mr. and Mrs. Yamanaka in a long time," said Sakura and Ino nodded happily, work always got done faster when Sakura used to help her before. They turned and started to walk away when Naruto's voice reached them.

"Hey Ino, you look a lot better when you don't have your hair covering your face!" The blonde girl blushed redder than a tomato to the roots of her hair, but when they turned around, Naruto was nowhere in sight.

**Hey guys, I hope you liked it. Yes, Naruto might have the same nature as he did before, but he is not as dumb as he used to be. Anyway, I have been thinking about the teams, and I still don't know if I am going to keep the original ones or make new ones because this story will have a 'not-so-common' pairing. That means no Naruto/Hinata for sure. Sorry all Naru/Hina fans but try to keep an open mind and continue reading, I promise I will make this story as amazing as possible. Poll about Zabuza's sword still stands. Please, please, please don't forget to review. I have been getting a lot of alerts and favorites, but the lack of reviews is kind of makes me not want to write anymore. **

**Thanks,**

**Tanneal. **


	5. A Team of Troubles

**A Team of Troubles**

Ino and Sakura walked into the Yamanaka flower shop and found the bored Patriarch of the proud clan sitting there dozing in the late afternoon.

"Hi Daddy!" said Ino as loudly and brightly as possible making Inoichi jump at the sudden loud voice. When he noticed his daughter or his princess as he liked to call her, he smiled warmly.

"Hi princess how was your day?" he asked, he still hadn't noticed the pink haired girl that had followed Ino into the shop today.

"DADDY!" shouted Ino loudly, quite embarrassed that he had called her princess in front of her friend.

"Wha…oh hello Sakura, how are you?" asked Inoichi when he finally noticed Ino's longtime friend Sakura. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen her in the last two years at all. "It has been quite a while since I have met you." Sakura nodded, but she had a hand on her mouth as she was trying to stifle the laughter that was trying to come out after seeing the interaction that Ino had with Inoichi.

"Yes, Mr. Yamanaka, it has been a while and I am fine thank you. How are you?" Sakura replied after she has successfully held back her amusement, she did not want to ruin the new chance she got with Ino, not for anything.

"Fine, as you can see. Ino you still didn't say how your day was," inquired Inoichi again, and now that his daughter has stopped glaring daggers at him, he was on safe grounds.

"My day was great!" exclaimed Ino before she remembered Naruto. "And I met a really nice boy today." At Ino's remark, her father was instantly interested. She was interested in someone other than the misbalanced Uchiha; maybe this could be something that he could work on to break her attraction to that emotionally troubled boy.

"Who was he?" he asked, keeping his face and voice neutral so that his daughter did not suspect any of his hidden motives concerning his boy.

"His name is Naruto Uzumaki and—" Ino was about to say more but her Father's bright smile made her stop midsentence.

"Naruto Uzumaki, a blonde boy with blue eyes that Naruto?" asked Inoichi, though he knew his daughter's answer before she even said it.

"You know him?" she asked as her eyes narrowed, there was something fishy about this whole deal.

"Yes, I know him alright," said Inoichi but he knew most of the boy's true info was classified so he would improvise as he went along.

"How?"

"Do you know his parents?"

"How is he so strong?" asked Ino and Sakura, shooting one question right after the other.

"Whoa, calm down girls," said Inoichi as he held his hands up, stalling the torrent of questions. "I know him because I have seen him at the Hokage's office…a lot, and no I don't know his parents because he is a…an orphan." Inoichi stopped as he saw the girls' eyes had grown the size of dinner plates.

"That's horrible!" exclaimed Ino and Inoichi just slapped his forehead; this is how a serious conversation goes with twelve year olds.

"I know!" Sakura exclaimed back.

"You know what Sakura?" asked Ino.

"What?" responded the pink haired girl.

"We should be nice to him from now on," replied Ino.

"Yeah, totally, be really nice to him." Sakura said and Inoichi stood up from his chair before fleeing the room for his own sanity's sake.

_THE NEXT DAY AT THE ACADEMY_

Students poured into class as the bell rang indicating the start of classes and, to Iruka's surprise, a certain blonde student was missing today. "Well, he does have his duties with the Hokage-sama," thought the academy instructor as he started class but he noticed some changes that made him raise his eyebrows. First off, Sakura, and Ino were sitting side by side and they were behaving like normal people around each other, no they were behaving like friends! Second, they had not sat by their favorite Uchiha and he looked displeased that his two favorite fan girls were not fighting over him as he kept glancing at the pair over and over again. "This is quite entertaining," thought the brown haired Chuunin as a small grin stretched across his face.

"Eh, where's Naruto?" asked Kiba from his usual spot behind Shikamaru.

"Don't know man, probably running late. But he can't sit with us, you see all the seats here are taken," he pointed out, yes the girls loved to sit as close to Sasuke as possible and today was a special occasion too since Sasuke's two biggest fans were not sitting near him.

"I liked him, he was pretty cool," said Choji between bites of chips and his two friends nodded in agreement.

"Oh well, may Kami help him," said the Nara and Kiba smirked. The only open seat that was left was the one by Sakura and Ino, and nobody other than Sasuke got close to them unless they had a death wish.

"Yo, Iruka Sensei!" shouted Naruto as he jumped into class from the window, flipped over three rows of desks and landed effortlessly in front of the startled teacher.

"Naruto, please don't take the window again, there is a perfectly fine door for this classroom," said Iruka as he indicated the door to Naruto.

"Sorry, keep that in mind," said the blonde boy as he rubbed the back of his head.

"So why are you late?" he asked and Naruto gave him a small scroll, which he unfurled to see that it was pretty much a pass by the Hokage, and by the looks of it Maito Gai was driving Naruto quite hard with his strength and conditioning training.

"Alright, take a seat." He said as he got back to his desk to look over some papers that he would need for the class. Naruto looked around uncertainly, his seat was taken by a red haired girl as she was openly gawking at Sasuke, and he was ignoring her just like he was ignoring everything else in the class. Naruto finally noticed an empty seat as Ino raised her hand and beckoned him over to sit next to them, and Sakura even moved over a seat so that he could sit between them. Kiba, witnessing the whole situation, shook his head very much like a confused dog before looking at Shikamaru and Choji.

"What did I miss?" he asked and Akamaru barked as if agreeing with his ally and friend.

"Don't look at us, we are just as surprised as you are," replied the Nara before putting his head down and going back to sleep.

"Man, I gotta ask Naruto his secret, he got two of the hottest girls to be friends with him in one day," mused the Inuzuka clan heir to himself as Iruka started lecturing the class on the duties of a genin.

"Is this boring or what?" muttered Ino as she looked out the window a little enviously, the late spring weather was definitely tantalizing. The blonde jinchuuriki had to agree with her, the outside looked much more appealing than sitting in a small classroom and listening to lectures involving a job that he knew he was more than capable of doing.

"Maybe we can sneak out of class once Iruka sensei leaves the room," whispered Naruto but Sakura was quick to admonish.

"We will do no such thing! Come on, we can be out in the sun as soon as school runs out or we can even go out to town for lunch, no need to risk getting in trouble when you can avoid it," Sakura looked very much like an angry teacher as her brows were furrowed and she looked at them with a severe frown on her face.

"Yes ma'am," said Naruto immediately making Sakura go back to normal and smile at him approvingly.

"Man girls are weird," thought Naruto but kept silent as he let out a long sigh, no wonder Shikamaru went to sleep whenever Iruka sensei started lecturing.

"You got afraid for Sakura using her special move on you," said Ino as she winked at Sakura over the boy's shoulder, and her friend winked back.

"Huh? What technique?" asked the blonde boy as he looked from one girl to the other with a confused expression on his face.

"I don't know if that technique has a name but it sure works, especially when she is using it on someone for the first time," said Ino with a laugh and even Sakura had to smile, she had made Ino do things for her when they were young because it frightened the blonde girl a little when Sakura used it on her.

"Oh, that can be quite a useful skill," thought the blue-eyed boy as he thought about that technique and its advantages over an unsuspecting enemy, it had a lot of drawbacks but if used correctly could produce good results. Sakura looked at Ino and she looked back skeptically but both kept their comments to themselves.

"So wanna have lunch at town?" asked the purple clad girl as she looked at her pink haired and blonde haired friends.

"Ya know, that does sound appealing," replied Sakura with a nod, she was definitely not feeling like eating the school lunch, it would be a welcome change to go somewhere else to eat.

"Sure, my treat if you go to the place where I will take you?" said Naruto surprising both his classmates with the unexpected and generous offer.

"Naruto, you don't have to," said Sakura but she did give the boy a genuine smile.

"Yeah, we will pay for our food, but you can still take us there," said Ino, at least being nice to this boy yielded results; Sasuke was as cold as an iceberg even if she tried her best to be really nice to him, if she only knew what would make that broody mysterious boy want to like her.

"If you girls come with me then it's my treat okay no arguments," insisted Naruto a little forcefully, making the girls concur, they never really had a guy who was this nice to them. It felt good to have someone who showed that he cared for them once in a while after all.

_TWO HOURS LATER AT ICHIRAKU RAMEN STAND_

Kurenai sat at the ramen shop waiting for her order to come; she was taking a much needed break from the Dango that her friend, Mitarashi Anko, had been feeding her for the last three days at lunch. "So Kurenai-san, how are your missions going lately?" asked Ayame, a very eager girl, into her mid-teens, when it came to shinobi affairs but a great cook for someone as young as her nonetheless.

"Ahh, they have been quite boring actually, I haven't had a mission that is above B-rank in more than three months," replied Kurenai, but the change in pace was making her all the less eager to have her Genin team. That would mean endless D-ranked missions and hours after hours of teaching before they could even move up to some C-ranked missions. "I am seriously starting to wish that I get Naruto in my team, that way I will be able to get good missions a lot faster than just regular genins," said the kunoichi, she was well aware that Teuchi and Ayame were one of the few people that knew about Naruto and his confidential rank of being the apprentice of the Sandaime Hokage.

"Hehe, yesterday Kakashi-san and Asuma-san were arguing about the same thing over dinner. It was becoming very scary once they started to stare deaths at each other without speaking a word." The red eyed Kunoichi could only shake her head, no wonder the other two were fighting over the blonde as well. As the most qualified of the Jounin teachers for genin teams, she knew that it was going to be either Asuma, Kakashi, or herself that would get to teach the blonde farther in Shinobi skills, but she also had the nagging doubt in her mind that the young boy might be stronger than his senseis in certain skills as a shinobi. He was being taught by the 'Professor' himself. And the boy knew sealing! Yes it was a forgotten art from the lost lands of whirlpool country, but sealing was one of the strongest methods of attack and defense ninjutsu that anyone could ever hope to master. It was what made the Yondaime become the Flash of Konoha, and allowed him to put an end to the Kyuubi's rampage.

"Come on Ino-chan, I promise it will be good!" said a loud voice from outside the stand, and the customer as well as the owner of the stand recognized the sound immediately.

"Speak of the devil," muttered Kurenai interestedly, was there a girl with him?

"Yeah Ino, don't be so quick to judge, I hear that it's one the favorite food joints for ninjas," said Sakura as she stared at the small ramen shop in wonder. How can such a small stand be so popular, especially with full-fledged shinobis? Maybe the food is just that good.

"I am not complaining now am I," said Ino, jeez her two friends could be really persistent when they put their mind to it. Naruto smiled at that and led both his friends into the shop.

"Kurenai-chan, how is it going?" asked Naruto as he gave his teacher a bright grin.

"Quite well Naruto what about you?" she asked politely, but did not miss the fact that Naruto had just walked in with two very cute girls.

"I'm great!" he said as he jumped onto one of the stools followed by his 'classmates'.

"Kurenai?" echoed the girl with pink hair, staring at the red eyed kunoichi with open curiosity. "As in Kurenai Yuuhi, the genjutsu mistress of Konoha?"

"That's what they call me," said Kurenai with a grin, these two girls seemed to have done their homework (literally).

"Sugoi," said Ino as she sat up a little straighter in presence of one of the most well known Jounins of Konoha.

"Say what now?" asked the blonde boy as he stared from one Kunoichi to the other confused.

"Seriously Naruto, have ever read your textbooks?" asked Sakura and got her answer when Naruto have her a nervous laugh as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Jeez, sometimes boys can be really stupid," said Ino as she agreed with her green eyed friend.

"Hi Naruto, what would you three like to eat?" asked Ayame as she came from the kitchen to the counter to take orders.

"Um, how about a bowl of Chicken ramen?" said Ino as she looked up from the menu a little uncertainly.

"Hmm, got it what about you?" she asked as she turned her head towards Sakura.

"I will take the same dish as Ino, thank you." Sakura replied and Ayame noted down her order as well.

"I assume you will be taking the regular Naruto?" asked the Ichiraku as she looked at her favorite customer.

"Hee hee, you know me Ayame-chan," replied the blonde with a large grin on his face.

"Alright, your orders will be coming right up," said Ayame as she went back in the kitchen to prepare the meal for her new customers.

"You all know about me, but what are your names?" asked Kurenai as she looked at the girls, and her thoughts went to their physique. "Why are they so scrawny?" thought the Genjutsu Mistress but kept her thoughts to herself.

"Oh, sorry my name is Ino Yamanaka," said the blonde girl in purple as she extended her hand, which Kurenai shook. "She certainly has the looks; maybe she is the daughter of Inoichi," the genjutsu mistress mused to herself.

"My name is Sakura…Haruno," said the pink haired girl a little shyly as a faint pink color rose to her cheeks.

"Nice to meet you both," said Kurenai as Ayame placed a bowl of steaming Ramen in front of her.

"What you got there Kurenai sensei?" asked Naruto as he tried to peer at her bowl.

"Naruto that is really rude!" shouted both his classmates indignantly making the boy jump; they couldn't believe the blonde could be so tactless.

"Don't worry about it girls, I have known Naruto since he was very young, so I am used to his behavior," said Kurenai with a chuckle, it seemed to calm them down a little. "But it would be nice if you could knock some manners into him." Both the girls nodded before returning to glare at Naruto, who gulped.

"So how come you know Naruto?" asked Ino, Kurenai was obviously a busy woman, so it was a little surprising that she knew Naruto from when he was very little.

"I used to babysit him," she said smoothly, making Naruto glare at her with a grumpy expression on his face, but she knew it wasn't entirely a lie. She was assigned a lot to keep a watch over the boy, and more often than not she was the one who carried the boy back to his orphanage after he fell asleep exhausted on the playing grounds, and sometimes near the training areas. That usually happened before he was taken as an apprentice by the Sandaime.

"Oh, that must have been quite a hassle," said Ino and Sakura nodded, they were both trying to hold back their laughter but were failing miserably.

"Yes it was," said Kurenai was a smile of her own formed from the contagious expression on the other two young Kunoichi's faces, making the blue-eyed boy grumble some more.

"Here's your order," said Ayame as she placed steaming bowls in front of the three academy students, an especially large on in Naruto's case. As everyone ate, they learned a little about Naruto and Kurenai, and in exchange they learned a few things about the pink haired and blonde haired girls who were aspiring to become the best kunoichis in Konoha. After a while, it was first that Sakura realized Naruto was on his fourth bowl of ramen. No way could his body hold that much food and he definitely wasn't overweight like Choji.

"Naruto, how much ramen do you usually eat?" she asked as she looked at the boy before her eyes returned to the nearly empty fourth bowl that he was having.

"Usually eight or nine, but if I am hungry I can go up to twelve, maybe thirteen?" said Naruto as he started thinking about the limit to how many bowls he could eat, completely missing the sweat drop that everybody in the ramen stand had.

"H-how?" asked Ino, she had dropped her chopsticks and hadn't even noticed.

"Jiji says that it's because I have a really high metabolism," replied the blonde. Kurenai also nodded, she was there when the test results came out, and even the doctor was shocked to see that the boy's metabolism was not like anyone else's that he had ever seen. As Naruto finished his sixth bowl before moving onto the seventh one, Kurenai and the girls got to know a little more about how the genins were selected and were dismayed to know that they will be tested again, this time by their Jounin sensei to see if they are really up to the task of becoming a full-fledged Genins.

"But why is there a second test?" asked Ino as she looked intently at the red eyed Kunoichi.

"Yeah, we get tested in the academy, why do we have to take another test?" moaned Sakura, feeling miserable, why was nothing ever as easy as it seemed?

"Well, you see, the academy lets all those graduate that show that they have the potential to be genins, but your Jounin senseis will test you to see if you can handle being one," replied Kurenai, clarifying the reason behind the second test without giving up too much.

"What do you mean if we can handle it? If all the students that graduate has the potential then obviously they are ready to handle becoming genins right?" asked the blonde haired girl, she noticed at everyone was listening to her conversation to Kurenai with interest, well everyone except Naruto of course. He just moved from the seventh to his eighth bowl of ramen, a happy and care-free smile plastered on his face.

"No having the potential to do something and having the understanding of how to go about it are two completely different things. You might have the potential to become a really good chef but if you don't have the slightest idea of what to do you will easily be seconded by someone who might not be as good as you but she will know where to start and as a result will have a head start on you from the very beginning. We, as Jounin senseis, always look for Genins that can become strong ninjas in the future and will not get killed in the field. Not because they are going to become good shinobis, but because they have the ability to use what they have effectively and turn the tables on their enemies instead," said Kurenai, making it clearer to Ino just what she implied in her previous statement.

"Oh," said Ino as she blinked, looking and feeling a little dazed at what she heard. "I…I have never thought of it that way," she muttered.

"Hey, I am glad to help and I hope all of you graduate and become genins. Good luck," said Kurenai before putting down some money on the counter and heading out, she had to meet her team before they left on a mission the next day.

"Naruto, we should go, it's almost time for classes to start again," said Sakura as she tugged at the boy's sleeve nervously.

"Okay," he said as he pulled out a really fat and green foggy wallet. "Gama-chan, I will make sure you are fat and healthy again in no time," whispered Naruto as he rubbed the wallet to his cheek tenderly before paying for the ramen and heading out of the ramen shop. Ino and Sakura looked at each other and grinned, the more they learned about Naruto, the more they started to like him.

"Oh no!" exclaimed Sakura suddenly as she looked at the time. They were walking leisurely towards the academy until she remembered they were already running late.

"What happened?" asked Ino as she eyed her pink haired friend curiously.

"We will never make it back in time, there is only two minutes left before class starts and the school is all the way in the northern part of town," moaned Sakura. Iruka always got rather furious if students returned to class from lunch late.

"Crap," said Ino as similar thoughts ran through her head as well.

"I can get there faster," said Naruto and his friends immediately looked at him with pleading eyes. Smirking, Naruto only gave them a brief warning before moving to action. "Hold on tight!" With that blonde picked up Ino and Sakura with an arm around each of their waists before taking to the rooftops at full speed. The girls' screams were cut short as wind whipped at them but before they knew it, Naruto was putting them down in front of the building where their class was.

"You should have given a better warning than that!" shouted both the kunoichis and Naruto earned sound slaps on each of his arm. He followed them into classroom grumbling but soon smiled when he saw Kiba and Shikamaru waving towards him. All three of them went over to the table where Shikamaru was sitting.

"Hey Shika," said Ino, she knew the boy for years now, she used to spend a lot of time with him when they were younger, but after joining the academy, those times had become less and less frequent.

"Where did you guys go during lunch?" asked Choji, it was one of those rare moments when the boy was not munching on anything.

"Just took them to Ichiraku's for a nice lunch," said Naruto as he gave a large grin and rubbed the back of his head.

"Wait you took both of them out on a lunch date?" asked Kiba as he looked from Naruto to the girls and back so fast that the blonde was surprised his neck did not snap. Two slaps to the head and he was knocked out on his desk. Akamaru whined worriedly as he tried to make Kiba open his eyes, but to no avail.

"Jeez you two, he was only asking," said Shikamaru in an annoyed tone as he checked to make sure the Inuzuka was not severely hurt or worse. Seeing only two slight bumps on his head, he turned back, the boy would wake up in a few minutes. "He'll be alright boy," said the Nara as he patted the dog's head a few times which seems to put him a little in ease.

"Hey, you know we should play ninja tag today after school," said the Akimichi suddenly.

"What's that?" asked Naruto and got very curious stares from his fellow classmates.

"You have never played ninja tag?" asked Ino and Naruto nodded.

"Well, when we play after school today we will teach you, it's very simple and with how fast you are you will probably never get tagged," she said giving a small smile to Naruto.

"Sure, Ino-chan!" he replied, as loudly as he always did making everyone smile at the blonde's antics. Well everyone except a certain Uchiha who had also taken an interest in his new classmate, but for very different reasons.

_AT THE SANDAIME'S OFFICE AFTER ACADEMY HOURS_

The Hokage's office was packed as everyone inside waited to find out what Naruto had deduced after snooping around Mizuki. Iruka had the report that Naruto had turned in and was on his way since the academy hours had ended just a few minutes ago. "What have you decided Hokage-sama?" asked Kakashi, finally breaching the subject that had become the source of argument among three really good friends constantly.

"What decision are you talking about Kakashi?" asked the Hokage though he had a good idea of what it was. Even at home he had felt the tension from Asuma about wanting Sandaime's apprentice to be in his team.

"About whose group Naruto should be in," asked the silver haired Jounin impatiently, and drawing the rest of the room's attention towards him. Even Inoichi, Shikaku, and Chouza were interested in hearing this.

"As far as the class dynamics go, it is proving to be exceedingly difficult to put him in a team at all," replied the Hokage as he rubbed his temples. He sure as heck did not want to put Naruto in a tracker team, the boy's talents laid in raw power and infiltration rather than being able to stalk a prey. He was not going to be in Ino-Shi-Cho either though that was the only one that seemed logical, but then there was also Team Seven.

"Maybe I can help there Hokage-sama," said Iruka as he reached the Hokage's office with a small file clutched in his hand.

"Do enlighten us Iruka," said Inoichi with a slight smile on his face, this topic had just become very interesting; it was quite uncommon to see Jounin senseis fighting over one boy.

"Well, Naruto's addition to this specific class has really misbalanced the dynamics so at least one of the pre-confirmed groups will have to break if there is room to be made for Naruto, unless we are making teams that have different aspects to each of them." Iruka already knew that their Hokage would not stand for any unfairness but this issue was about someone whom he considered his own grandson, so he would make sure he was in the right path before giving his idea on any of this.

"Iruka, you know as well as I that having unbalanced teams from the same village is very dangerous, I want no teams to be overly qualified or under qualified for any reason. If I have to break the teams that we talked about to make it fair then so be it," commanded Hiruzen with all the authority of the wise and firm leader that he was.

"Then I suggest that we reform Team eight and replace Shino Aburame with Naruto Uzumaki, and replace Akai Kemichi from Team seven with the Aburame," replied the academy instructor and Hokage thought over it before looking at the original Ino-Shika-Cho for their opinion on the matter.

"Hokage-sama, I have no problem with breaking the Ino-Shika-Cho trio that the academy is trying to form right now," said the patriarch of the Akimichi clan with enough confidence to make the leader of the village more than a little curious.

"Chouza are you sure?" asked Inoichi, a little taken aback by his friend's willingness to put his god-son into a different team.

"Yes Inoichi, I know as well as you and Shika that our personalities are not the same as our children's, especially my god-daughter's," replied the Akimichi as a chuckle escaped from the Nara standing beside the Yamanaka patriarch.

"You also think about Ino that way?" asked the mind walker as he looked at his other friend and team-mate curiously.

"Sorry to tell you this Inoichi, but your daughter is too much like her mother. Sure our sons and your daughter have inherited the same skills as us due to our bloodlines but what made us an effective team was because we learned to understand each other and appreciate each other more as equals. Shikamaru, on the other hand sees Ino as bossy and…overbearing. I think that they would make rather good friends and maybe even get close enough to love each other like siblings but they would not make good comrades, not now as they stand anyway," the Nara clan head also gave his opinion of what he really thought the new Ino-Shika-Cho trio.

"Hmm, that just makes me look like a bad father you know," muttered Inoichi with a sad look in his eyes.

"You know if we started listing Shikamaru's and Choji's shortcomings right now, you would sound like the ideal dad," said Chouza and both the Akimichi and Nara laughed at that, yes their families weren't perfect but it was theirs and they loved it with everything they had.

"But that is what teams are formed for, so if Hokage Sama intends to keep those three in a team I will support that decision too," said Chouza and Shikaku nodded in agreement, much to the relief of Inoichi.

"So are we going with Iruka's plan or are we breaking off the team we had thought of before?" asked Asuma, as he looked from Iruka back to his father.

"I am seriously considering putting Naruto with Sakura and Sasuke; he told me that he had made good friends out of five students from the academy. Shikamaru, Kiba, Ino, Choji, and Sakura were the names that he told me," the Hokage paused as he looked at the three members of the famous strike team and continued when they nodded. "I will remove Akai Kemichi from Team Seven and put Naruto in his place." Sarutobi sighed; this could have gone a lot differently. The three Jounin instructors waited with abated breath to see if their Hokage was going to tell them who were to be the teacher of Team Seven but when he didn't Kurenai couldn't wait any longer.

"And who is going to be leading Team Seven?" she asked loudly, frustrated that the Hokage was playing this game with them. The Sandaime looked at the angry red eyed Kunoichi and a new fear rose within him. Asuma, Kakashi, and Kurenai were all strong Jounins of Konoha, and they were three of the best in his village, upsetting two of them could prove really bad for his health. Gulping, the Hokage decided that he would rather stick to the decision he had made because he knew that he wanted what was best for Naruto.

"I must say that the choice was quite difficult to make but in the end I think I chose the one that I thought was best. I hope you will not see this as favoring someone or that I am being biased because my foremost concern is what is best for the newest generation of genins and nothing else. The instructor for team seven will be Kakashi Hatake." Hiruzen fell silent as he saw his son glaring at his face, a wide eyed look on Kakashi's, and the narrowed eyes of Kurenai, she was leaking quite a bit of killer intent in the process too.

"As you wish Hokage-sama," she finally said stonily before she stared out the window, her lips no more than a thin line.

"My, my, this has gotten really tense," said Kakashi, smiling a little nervously.

"Oh, well…damn," thought the Hokage as he turned to look at Iruka once more. "Let's see what Naruto's report says on Mizuki," he ordered as he extended his hand for Iruka to hand him his student's report. He read the report as his eyes flicked across the paper rapidly for a few seconds before looking back up. "It seems that our doubts were right, Mizuki acts like a suspicious suspect should, what is more disturbing is that he is keeping tabs on students that are doing bad in class."

"So is our plan a go then?" asked Inoichi, he and his teammates had devised a plan to take him down while he was in the act, catch him red handed and head him off to prison then there, problem solved."

"Not quite," said Hiruzen as he re-read the note just to make sure he was reading it right. "Naruto has a special request it seems, he wants to make it look like he failed the exam. That way, if Mizuki is planning to use one of the students to do the dirty job for him, Naruto will be placing himself as bait."

"You are not seriously thinking about this are you?" asked Inoichi instantly, placing a child's life on the hands of a ninja who was thinking about betraying his whole village, that can't be reasonable at all.

"Why not, the plan seems pretty good, and Naruto is more than capable of handling himself in situations like this," said the Sandaime; he was in fact impressed with his student's initiative in helping the village anyway he can.

"But these kinds of missions are usually reserved for shinobis of Chuunin, and in most cases Jounin level, not inexperienced Genins," blurted the Yamanaka, worry for the young Uzumaki evident in his voice.

"Inoichi, calm down," said Asuma as he tried to explain why the Sandaime was allowing Naruto to follow the plan that he had formulated. "I understand that you think Naruto to be an untested genin but as far as skills are concerned he is well beyond the people of his age. In fact, if it did come to hand to hand combat, I can assure you that Naruto is more than capable of overpowering the Chuunin."

"How can you say that?" asked the mind walker suspiciously, and his team-mates looked curious as well.

"Well…haha," he said nervously as he looked at his father while running a hand through his hair.

"Hokage-sama, exactly how strong is Naruto?" asked Shikaku, he had quickly caught on what they had been trying to hide, and given the boy's display of skills over five years ago, it would be understandable if he was strong enough to be a higher level Chuunin. The Hokage sighed tiredly before shooting a glare at his son for his carelessness.

"He is strong enough, skill wise, to be Jounin level," replied the Hokage making three jaws hit the floor.

"Hokage-sama, I believe you will understand if we are a little skeptical," said Shikaku as he looked a little apologetically at the leader of Konoha. The Hokage's response surprisingly was a long belly-deep laugh.

"Yes, indeed it is hard to believe," said the man still chuckling, which made the members of Ino-Shika-Cho trio shuffle their feet nervously. It did not help that Kurenai, Kakashi, and Asuma were also laughing at their disposal.

"Well, all I can say is that I am glad he is my daughter's friend then," said the Yamanaka clan head and raucous laughter broke out all across the room, even Iruka, who was able to stifle his amusement till now, burst out laughing at the antics of the respectable clan head. As the laughter slowly died, Shikaku asked the question that would have come up one way or another.

"So what are we to do? Since this is now in Naruto's hand, I am assuming that we are not needed for this anymore," the Nara deduced, a little disappointed at the sudden turn of events.

"Oh I am not so sure about that," said the Hokage as he took a long drag from his pipe before continuing. "Naruto maybe strong but he is still very inexperienced and quite young. I am not going to let him handle the mission as a solo one even though he specifically requested it, you three, along with Tenzo and his group is going to monitor the situation from the shadows. One wrong move from Mizuki and you are to take him down. I am quite sure that Naruto still has a lot to learn…" the Sandaime might have continued but a loud groan stopped him midsentence.

"Oh here we go again," said Asuma, he half groaned and half moaned the words out, like he had heard this over and over again, and still expected to hear it for quite some time before it stopped.

"What do you mean?" asked Kurenai as she glanced curiously at her comrade.

"You know, my father would brag about his apprentice for hours on some of his accomplishments almost every day, but in the end of it all he would always remind us that 'I am quite sure that Naruto still has a lot to learn'," mimicked Asuma, though it was a very sorry mimic and more of a mock.

"Well if you are done with the family drama, I would like to see this mission of Naruto's myself," said a rather rough voice of a kunoichi as she jumped into the office through the window, while eating a dango from a stick.

"Not a chance of that happening Anko," declared Kakashi in a voice that brooked no argument…unless it was Anko Mitarashi, everyone realized.

"What did you say, you scarecrow rip off?" she screamed at his face, her own face red with anger.

"You heard me, not a chance of that happening unless I am also there," said Kakashi in the same voice which made the woman turn towards the Sandaime, fires of determination burning bright in her eyes lavender eyes.

"Now now Anko, before you say anything, I agree to all of Kakashi's terms," said the Sandaime raising his hands defensively to protect himself from a determined and a little crazy ANBU operative.

"Good old man, I will be there," said the trench coat wearing Kunoichi and jumped out the window after giving a quick hug to her best friend Kurenai.

"Dear Kami, that woman scares me more than Tsunade," thought the Hokage, wondering if he had taken the right decision in sending Naruto to train with her.

"VICTORY!" was the thought that was going through Kakashi's head as he gave a one eyed smile to the Hokage before leaving.

**Hey guys, I hope you liked this chapter. Yes, Naruto will remain in Team Seven with Kakashi. So people suggested some pairings that I like, and there are some unique ones too that I have not seen in Fanfic yet. I like Naru/Ino, but hey I might just make it a triplet! Lol, me and my devious mind. And oh boy was I surprised by the amount of reviews I got for the latest chapter, that was amazing, please keep reviewing my story like that, it was very appreciated and quite motivating. Next chapter is the first team meeting and maybe the rivalry between Sasuke and Naruto will grow some more, but there will be a slight twist to it. I have to say that updates will be slower because now my internship and summer job has started, I will write as much as I can but it will still be a slower pace than this, sorry. Poll about Zabuza's sword still stands. Please, please, please don't forget to review. **

**Thanks,**

**Tanneal. **


	6. Forged in Will

**Forged in Will**

_THREE DAYS LATER AT THE ACADEMY_

Ino walked into the classroom as she chewed nervously on her lower lip. Today was the day of the Genin finals, and it was still quite early so the only people that she noticed in the classroom was Sasuke Uchiha, Iruka Umino, Mizuki, and to her complete surprise, the sleeping form of Shikamaru Nara. Deciding to ignore her crush as she had been doing for the last few days and was surprisingly getting more response from him than she had ever had before, Ino walked towards her friend and sat down next to him. "Honestly how in the world can he sleep when the exam begins in only a few minutes?" wondered the blonde girl as she roughly shook the boy's shoulder to rouse him from his slumber. "Hey Shika, wake up already!" she said loudly when she got no response to her earlier attempt at making the Nara awake.

"Hmmm," he grunted before slowly sitting up. "Why did you wake me Ino?" asked Shikamaru in a disgruntled voice as he wanted to go back to his nap. Seeing that there was no way of that happening with Ino beside him, he sighed, "troublesome."

"Because the exam will start in fifteen minutes and how can you sleep anyway when the finals are so near?" asked Ino, looking incredulously at her classmate.

"Because mom woke me up an hour before she usually does and I feel really sleepy," came the lame excuse, and the blonde just shook her head slowly. Whose brilliant idea was it to even consider that Shikamaru could become a shinobi? Yes he was extra-ordinarily smart but that was where all his talents ended, he was so lazy that no amount of work could bring him to become a shinobi of any type. At least that was what the blonde girl thought at the moment because she had no idea how wrong she was. "By the way have you seen Naruto today?" asked the Nara making her think of her new friend.

"No, I didn't even see him yesterday. Do you think he is alright?" Ino wondered loudly as she looked at Shikamaru for an answer.

"Don't look at me, I even went with Kiba and Choji looking for him all over town yesterday but didn't find him. Nobody that I know has any idea where he is," replied Shikamaru in a crestfallen voice. The new energetic and blonde friend that he had made recently was quite fun to be around and his Shogi skills were almost on par with the Nara heir's; at times making him wonder just how smart was this new friend of his? He turned to look at Ino only to see her attention focused on something else, when he turned his head he saw that it was her rival…or was she her friend now, Sakura walking into the classroom. She stopped as she stepped into the class and looked around before her eyes landed on them and she made her way over.

"Hey Ino," she said in a gloomy voice as she sat down next to her friend.

"You look really tired," commented her blonde friend as she looked at her with a critical eye. Sakura had slight rings under her eyes and her body posture said that she was ready to fall asleep at a moment's notice.

"Yea, it wasn't a great day yesterday," she replied, still gloomily and Ino knew the reason.

"You had no luck finding him either, huh?" Ino stated more than asked because Sakura's mood was quite easy to read, especially since she had known her for about seven years now.

"You know what I don't understand is how someone can vanish so completely that nobody knows where he is," said the pink haired Kunoichi, she was still quite surprised that even someone who was close to Naruto, like Kurenai, had no idea where he had disappeared off to. If he did not turn up in class by the end of today, Ino and Sakura were both going to ask Iruka to run a full missing person's report. If the blonde boy did not have a family to take care of him, he could be sure as hell that he had good friends, even though they knew him for only a few days.

"So what? I don't think there is anything to worry about, I am sure he will turn up today," said Kiba as he took the usual spot and put Akamaru down on the floor.

"I hope you are right," muttered Ino absent-mindedly. The day they had played ninja-tag was when she had seen her new friend in a different light. She had talked about it to Sakura who had also agreed that she felt the same way about Naruto, but they could not figure out exactly what they felt. It was mainly because Naruto was so fast that he never got tagged by Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, or even Akamaru. And every time any of them tried to get Ino or Sakura, Naruto would get there and carry them off. Kiba had tried to tell Naruto that it was against the rules but the blonde boy had defended his actions by saying what kind of ninja leaves their teammates behind? She was roused out of her thoughts as the bell rang and students started to enter the class. Sakura set her bag down on the seat next to her so that she could save it for Naruto just like she had been doing for the last few days.

"I really hope he does turn up today, maybe then he can give me some hints about the Henge jutsu," said Choji as he crammed some more chips into his mouth. It was an old habit of the young Akimichi to start eating more and more when he was nervous.

"Don't worry Choji, I am sure you will do fine," said Sakura, she had never had any reason to behave with the boy badly, he might have even been considered normal if he decided to stop his unhealthy eating habits and paid more attention people rather than edible objects.

"I hope (crunch crunch crunch) you are right," responded Choji before shoving more chips into his already stuffed mouth. The bell rang again, signaling that it was now time to start the classes for the day. The classroom was almost completely packed but to the disappointment of a few people a certain blonde haired and blue eyed boy was still not in sight.

"I still don't know why Naruto has been avoiding school like this," muttered Ino to her group.

"Maybe he is scared of the exam, I know I am and I have been here for as long as a shinobi should to become a genin, he just started a little more than a week ago," commented the Inuzuka, and his reasoning was good enough that he did not get punched in the head by the two fussing Kunoichis. Across a few rows of desks someone else had also heard the conversation and was having his own thoughts on the blonde's actions as well.

"Yes, I am quite sure that the reason of his absence might be more than the fact that he is scared," thought the raven haired boy, as he sat quietly in a classic broody pose, completely ignoring the annoying voice next to him as it tried to communicate with him in a very enthusiastic manner. His musings were interrupted as Mizuki started to speak to the students.

"Aright class, we will go ahead and begin the exams. You will be called into the room over there," he paused as he indicated the sub-office that was connected to their classroom before continuing. "You will be called in the alphabetical order according to your name. Once you are inside that room, farther information will be given for what the instructors want you to do. After you are done with the exam, just resume your seat in the class since we have some important news for everyone. Best luck to all of you and I hope that every one of my students become successful genins in the future," he ended his instructions with an encouraging smile before following Iruka into the small office.

_TWO HOURS AND FOURTEEN MINUTES LATER_

Sasuke walked out of the small office looking as smug as ever, holding a new Konoha head band in his hand. It did not come as a surprise to anybody that Sasuke had passed the test easily, and will not surprise anyone if he ended up getting the highest score in the class. Sakura's and Ino's eyes almost desperately looked at the door of the classroom before going back towards the small office, Naruto's name would be called any second now and he wasn't here, that was automatically a failing grade if one did not show up for the Genin finals.

"Naruto Uzumaki," came the inevitable call and almost all heads turned towards the door in anticipation to see if the blonde would show up, and to everyone's surprise Naruto walked in through the door and stiffly headed for the small office.

"It was almost as if he was waiting outside the class," said Kiba and Shikamaru nodded.

"Something fishy is going on," thought the Nara but just said "Troublesome," to show his indifference to the whole deal.

Soon after Naruto walked out of the office and without hesitation jumped out the window of the classroom, he didn't even give a passing glance towards his new friends. "What the heck?" muttered Sakura as she looked towards Ino.

"Yea, what's his deal?" wondered the blonde girl aloud; it was certainly not like Naruto to act so…weirdly towards his classmates, and especially the people whom he interacted with so much energy and enthusiasm.

"Okay, I don't know what's going on but something is definitely off about this whole situation," said the Nara, which piqued the interest of the girls and Choji, but Kiba looked as bored as ever.

"I think you are reading a lot into it. I mean he didn't pass the exam so it could just be that he is feeling down about it and wants to spend some time alone," said the Inuzuka in a stoic voice, and Akamaru gave a small bark in agreement.

"How can you tell he didn't pass?" snapped Sakura, they only saw Naruto for like two seconds after he got out of the side office before he jumped out the window.

"He didn't have a head band with him, duh," said Kiba with a raised eyebrow.

"Ino Yamanaka," came Mizuki's voice and Ino paled a little bit.

"Wish me luck," muttered the girl as she slowly got up and made her way towards the office.

"Good luck Ino!" Sakura's voice reached her ears but didn't make her feel any better as she entered the office, silently praying to Kami to help her just this once.

Naruto landed outside the class and immediately moved to the second part of his plan. Man did Ino and Sakura look pissed when he went in and didn't even smile at them. He was going to have to face them later and tell them a made up excuse so that they didn't kill him, and he would be really sad if they decided to break their friendship with him over this. The blonde spotted the swing soon enough and knew what he would have to do, now he would have to find a secluded spot in the village where he could face Mizuki and take him down without any prying eyes. He took to the rooftops and was quickly on his way towards the forest, there were many places on the outskirts of the forest near Area forty-four where people rarely ventured and knew that one of those spots would be perfect for the task he was going to do. As he moved he spotted another chakra signature following him, a very familiar one.

"Anko-chan, you know I can tell when you are following me," said the blonde as a sly grin stretched across his face.

"Damn, the gaki is getting too skilled for his own good," muttered the snake summoner as she dropped her invisibility jutsu and moved faster to catch up to the person she regarded as a younger brother. "What are you doing here boy, I thought you would be in school," she commented as she kept up with him. It wasn't hard to tell that he was making a bee-line for the forest.

"I know but I got a mission from Jiji," replied the young jinchuuriki excitedly. They were finally close enough to the forest so that he could make out the small clearings that dotted the area surrounding the forest.

"Yeah, I heard. So what are you looking in the forest for?" Anko was now seriously wondering what the genin was planning. She was sure he was not stupid enough to lure him into the forest and try to take the Chuunin down by himself; therefore he probably had a plan, maybe even vicious enough for her to use it later in a mission herself. The Jounin licked her lips in anticipation as she voiced her thoughts.

"Well I figured if I could make him follow me into the forest alone then I could use it to my advantage to take him down. Anyway, what I really need is for someone to tell him where I am after I steal the scroll. So..." Anko could easily tell what he was thinking as he gave her the expectant look.

"Ah damn it you know I can't say no to that look!" she huffed in frustration as the blonde gave her a huge grin and a quick hug before leaping off again.

_SEVERAL HOURS LATER_

Iruka turned again, this was getting pretty irritating to say the least. He was looking for Naruto for the last two hours since the Hokage sounded the alarm that the Scroll of Sealing was missing from his office. The academy instructor had already checked six of his blonde student's usual hiding spots but had no luck finding him. If this time he did not find Naruto he was going straight for the usual training grounds where Naruto trained with the Sandaime Hokage privately. He landed in the clearing and was immediately aware that Naruto was here. The grass was trampled freshly and the chakra residue was still here. "Was he training while waiting for Mizuki to find him?" wondered the teacher incredulously. The more he looked at the clearing, the more it became apparent that someone was using it as a training ground.

"Iruka-sensei, what are you doing here?" asked the blonde, he had appeared right behind his teacher, the scroll was attached diagonally across his back.

"Naruto, stop doing that! You nearly made me attack you," said Iruka as he turned to see the blue-eyed twelve years old.

"Hehehe, sorry it's just that Kakashi and Tenzo sensei made sure that I knew how to move without making a single sound that I can usually scare people if they do not see me coming, well everyone except for Anko-chan," Naruto rubbed the back of his head as he gave a large grin to his academy teacher.

"So you are planning to make him come here and bring him down?" wondered Iruka aloud as he looked around, it was childish but still pretty well thought out. "I am impressed Naruto, a simple yet effective plan good job."

"Eh, thanks but…" Naruto started talking but suddenly his body stiffened as he seemed to sense something. "Quick Iruka-sensei, hide someone is coming here!"

"TOO LATE!" yelled a voice and suddenly Naruto felt himself being shoved aside as Iruka took his spot where he was standing only moments ago. The blonde turned around to see many kunais sticking out of his teacher's body, but fortunately none of them seemed fatal and most of the wounds were only bleeding little, so he decided to play the ignorant boy that he was supposed to be in front of the white-haired Chuunin.

"Naruto, give me the scroll!" shouted Mizuki from his perch at the tree.

"Hey! Hey! What's going on here?" asked Naruto as he turned his head from Mizuki towards Iruka and back.

"Naruto don't give him the scroll, not even if your life depends on it!" shouted back Iruka as he understood his student's subtle ploy. "That scroll is very dangerous; it has all kinds of forbidden jutsus written in it. Mizuki used you to get it for himself."

"There's no point in you having it," said Mizuki suddenly as a cunning smirk stretched across his pale face.

"And why's that?" asked Naruto glaring at the traitor with all the hatred he could muster in his sapphire blue eyes.

"I guess I will just have to tell you the truth," responded the white haired shinobi with an exaggerated sigh as he pointed at Naruto. Iruka's eyes grew wide as he suddenly realized what Mizuki was referring to. This was not in the plan; the boy will break if he came to know about something like this on a mission!

"N-No don't!" he shouted but it was in vain.

"Twelve years ago…you know about the demon Fox being killed right?" Mizuki asked as he looked at Naruto with that sickening smile still on his face. "Since that incident, a new rule was created for this village. But Naruto, this rule was never meant to be told to you."

"Not to me? What is this rule?" asked Naruto, now genuinely curious to know what Mizuki was truly referring to, but the only answer he got was a dark chuckle from the man, it was more than a little disturbing to the young Jinchuuriki. "What…kind of rule is it?"

"The rule is that nobody is allowed to talk about the fact that you are THE DEMON FOX!" Mizuki screamed.

"What do you mean?" shouted back Naruto, there was no way he was the fox…just no way.

"It means that you are the Nine Tailed Fox that killed a lot of people; the same beast that also killed Iruka's parents and destroyed the village." There was no stopping Mizuki now, he was going to tell the little demon just who and what he was today.

"STOP IT!" yelled Iruka.

"You were sealed up by the Fourth Hokage, the man that you admire the most. You have been lied to by everyone! Didn't you find it odd how everyone hated you? Even Iruka is the same, he actually hates you too!"

"No Naruto, don't listen to him!"

"Nobody will ever accept you!" Mizuki jumped off the tree, heading straight for the jinchuuriki who seemed to have frozen in place. "That scroll was used to seal you up!"

"UGH!" Naruto suddenly found himself face to face with the academy instructor, a massive shuriken sticking out of his back. "My teacher defended me, he put his life on the line for ME?" thought the blonde as he stared at the pained face of Iruka-sensei.

"Why…?"

"Yeah Naruto, you must have been in a lot of pain too. Maybe if I had done a better job of protecting you, you might not have to feel this way," said Iruka, as tears streamed down his face. The blonde slowly got to his feet. He looked at Iruka with blank eyes before taking off, sprinting as fast as he could away from them. "NARUTO!"

"Hehehe, sorry but Naruto isn't the type to have a change of heart. He is probably planning to use the scroll to get revenge on the village right now," said Mizuki, he knew some day this would come. Fortunately he was going to get out now, whether he had the scroll or not. Still it wouldn't hurt t try. "You saw that look in his eyes earlier…those were the eyes of a demon." Iruka slowly grabbed the shuriken on his back before pulling it out with a grunt.

"Naruto…" said Iruka as he took deep breaths. "Isn't like that…"

"It doesn't matter; I will kill Naruto and get the scroll. As for you, I will take care of you later," with that the Chuunin took to the tree tops again.

"Found him," muttered Iruka as he spotted the form of Naruto jumping from tree to tree. "Hey Naruto, hurry pass me the scroll. Mizuki is still after it!" The blonde screeched to a stop as he looked at Iruka before…lunging at the academy instructor knocking him off the tree branch.

"What? How Naruto…How did you know I wasn't Iruka?" asked the Iruka before a puff of smoke engulfed him and the henge dispelled to show Mizuki looking at the blonde angrily.

"Because," Naruto formed a seal as his own jutsu dispelled as well. "I am Iruka."

"Heh whatever," muttered the white haired chuunin. "You would even transform into the thing that killed your parents."

"I will not let a mad man like you get your hands on the scroll." Iruka stated, he was a loyal shinobi of the village and he would rather die that give the scroll over to someone like Mizuki.

"You are the mad man, Naruto and I am the same!" snarled Mizuki making Iruka raise an eyebrow.

"The same?" questioned the black haired chuunin curiously.

"If you use the jutsus in that scroll, you can do whatever you want. There is no way that a demon fox wouldn't try to use that power to destroy the village that imprisoned him for the last twelve years," said Mizuki matter of factly.

"Yeah," said Iruka, but he was unaware that Naruto was also listening to their conversation from a hidden spot.

"I knew it," muttered the blonde. "Nobody acknowledges me…deep down everyone believes that I was the damned Fox, don't they?"

"The Demon Fox would do something like that, but Naruto is different." The blonde's head snapped up at that, his blue eyes wide at what he thought his teacher was implying. "But he would never do something like that. I have acknowledged him as one of my most excellent students and a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village. He is Uzumaki Naruto!"

"Grrrr…WHATEVER," Mizuki huffed in rage as he tried to take deep breaths to calm himself down. "Iruka, I said I will take care of you later but I changed my mind. I will kill you right now!" Mizuki was spinning his last massive shuriken in his hand, as he pulled his arm back and took aim.

"So…this is it huh?" muttered Iruka as he closed his eyes and accepted his fate. At least he had died defending one of the strongest shinobis he knew. Just as Mizuki was about to let it fly, he was hit in his chest with tremendous force, knocking him several yards back and his shuriken flew off in a skewed angle, completely missing the intended target. The sudden cry of pain made Iruka open his eyes as he saw Naruto standing in front of him, the scroll was on the ground, and he had his right hand on it.

"Don't touch Iruka-sensei," he growled in a low voice. "OR I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Shut up punk!" shouted Mizuki in anger as he got up and dusted his clothes off. "I can kill someone like you in one shot!"

"Try it trash, I will return the pain a thousand times over!"

"Then do it, damn Fox!"

"KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" hundreds of solid Naruto clones appeared all over the clearing.

"Damn," muttered Shikaku Nara.

"We were really worried over nothing," said Chouza as he nodded in accord.

"For a moment I really thought the kid lost it, but he really is one tough nut to crack huh," said Inoichi as the three of them walked off. There was no need for them here anymore. He looked up at the tree to see Anko grinning…well like she usually does and Kakashi putting his head-band back over his left eye.

_THE NEXT DAY AT THE ACADEMY_

Naruto walked slowly down the hallway of the academy as he approached a specific classroom very apprehensively. Today was the day that Genin teams will be assigned to their Jounin senseis. But what scared Naruto more was the fact that he would have to face two of the most fearsome Kunoichis in the Hidden Leaf. Gulping very audibly, Naruto slowly walked into the class, and as expected Shikamaru called his name and waved him over.

"Yo Naruto," said the Nara before putting his head back on his desk.

"Naruto, you better be ready to run," whispered Kiba as he leaned close to Naruto's ear, the blonde could already guess why the Inuzuka was saying that. He was clearly sitting next to the two pissed off Kunoichis, and that could be very bad for anyone's health. Choji was eating his chips but the panicked look in his eyes was clear indication that he was also worried for his blonde friend.

"Er…hello Sakura-chan, Ino-chan," he said as he looked slightly to the ladies sitting next to him from the corner of his eyes.

"Naruto, I hope you have a very good explanation for missing so many days of school and worrying us to death," hissed Ino as she glared at the blonde male sitting next to her, Sakura was also giving a piercing glare to the blonde with her deep green eyes. Naruto gave a deep sigh before turning towards the girls to present his explanation.

"Well you see…I had not been feeling so well the last few days, and then I got admitted to the hospital, and even though I wanted to come here, the doctors said that I could not leave unless they made sure I was alright. I hope I did not worry you too much…" Naruto trailed off as he tried to look as guilty as possible. With the training he had received from some of the top ANBU operatives in Konoha, the kunoichi girls fell for the excuse.

"Oh," said Sakura as he held a hand to her mouth and Ino looked at Naruto with wide eyes.

"I am so sorry; I didn't mean it like…" Ino started to say but Naruto waved her apology off dismissively.

"Don't worry about it Sakura-chan, Ino-chan you were just worried about me," shot back the blonde before giving both of them one his dazzlingly bright grins. "See I'm fine!" Sakura smiled and Ino also nodded, it seemed they had their old friend back, and for them that was all that mattered.

"Hey, wanna play ninja tag later today? We can also talk about our Jounin senseis once we meet up," asked Kiba as he looked from Naruto to the girls sitting next to him.

"Hmm, not a bad idea but I get Naruto in my team this time," said Shikamaru, his head was still down on his desk.

"No, I want to be in Naruto's team too," exclaimed Sakura, if she was in Naruto's tem it was guaranteed that she would never get tagged.

"But you had him last time," interjected Kiba. "You can take Choji this time."

"No fair, Choji always gets tagged easily," pouted Ino, making Naruto want to be in the same team as her again. But then that would not be fair to the others, suddenly an alternative idea popped into his head.

"He how about it's me and Choji against all of you?" everyone turned to look at the whisker marked boy like he was crazy except Shikamaru, who thought that was the best way to have a balanced team. One was very easily caught while the other was impossible to tag. One was quite slow and the other, extremely fast.

"Hey it makes sense. Choji and Naruto makes a perfectly balanced team, I am in favor," said the Nara, making the Inuzuka automatically agree with plan. Choji, seeing as he was getting the best tag player he had ever seen in his own team also agreed wholeheartedly. This made the votes three to two, so it was decided. It will be Naruto and Choji against the four of them.

"Alright students, settle down settle down," shouted Iruka over the din that was his classroom. After much yelling and shouting, Iruka finally settled his class down and now everyone present was looking at him with expectant eyes. "As you all know, you will be assigned to you genin teams and senseis today. So please listen as I call your name and announce the team you have been assigned to and who your Jounin sensei is." Iruka quickly hurried over to his desk before picking up a clipboard ans started reading the name of the teams.

It had only been a couple minutes after Iruka had called all the teams that a very beautiful Kunoichi walked into the room, her red eyes quickly scanned the class before speaking "Team Eight, please follow me."

"Hey, don't forget I will see ya in the evening," said Kiba as he walked out of the classroom followed by a very nervous looking Hinata and a…very heavily clothed Shino.

"Heh," muttered Ino as another fifteen minutes had passed. "It looks like our Jounin senseis are slackers." That was when a heavily bearded Jounin walked into the classroom.

"Team Ten," he said lazily before walking back out of the classroom.

"Or it's just your sensei," said Ino, a little startled, to Sakura as she followed Shikamaru and Choji out of the classroom.

_MORE THAN AN HOUR LATER_

One could easily see that Sakura was angrier than she had ever been before in her life. She had been sitting in the classroom for the last hour and a half waiting for her Jounin Sensei to show up but that man had yet to show his face to his students. It didn't help that Naruto had grown so bored that he had fallen asleep after _she _had idly asked him where he was having lunch, and any attempts she made to talk with the Uchiha had only resulted in classic popular response of "Hn." It infuriated her to no end that she had two people with her in the classroom, yet both of them had apparently found better things to do than talk to her! She supposed that she could wake Naruto up, but she just couldn't bring herself to do it no matter how many times she tried. He just looked so much like a…baby, so at peace just sleeping there with a small smile caressing his face. It wasn't the usual grin that she got to see, though that is a sight in itself, it was more like a genuine smile, one that she had never seen on his face before.

"Ughh," fumed the pink haired kunoichi as she got out of her seat and stomped to the window and looked over the academy grounds where a younger batch of kids were practicing their target skills. "Where is that baka of a sensei of ours?" grumbled the kunoichi as she stared at the misgivings and the failings of the kids that they had also, no doubt, done when they were younger. Thoughts of them being young automatically drew the pink haired girl's thoughts to her blonde haired teammate's mysterious past. He definitely appeared like a simple enough boy who was very friendly towards others, but his past made him an enigma to all his classmates. Who was he, where had he been when they had been in the ninja academy, and how could he be so skilled even if he had never set foot in a ninja school until a week before the graduating class? Her thoughts were interrupted when a man with hair like threaded silver poked his head through the partially open door.

"Team Seven pl…well you are the only ones left, meet me in the roof," he demanded before vanishing before Sakura could even utter a single word of rebuke as her anger caught up to her full force. Sasuke stood up, and surprisingly Naruto had also woken up at the exact moment needed, and three proceeded to make way to the roof of the academy. A grumbling Sakura was the first one to enter, followed by a serious looking black haired boy, and finally a serene looking boy who seemed to have a knowing smirk on his face as he strolled onto the roof and sat down next to his teammates. Kakashi was apparently reading a very offensive looking book, in Sakura's opinion, but nobody else seemed to care so she instead decided to attack her sensei because of his tardiness.

"You are late, and not just by a few minutes but by more than an hour and a half!" she huffed as the mask wearing ninja looked up from his book with a bored look on his face.

"How perceptive of you," he muttered before pointing at her and saying in a louder voice. "Well, let's introduce ourselves to each other, how about we start with you?"

"Umm, why don't you go first sensei, that way we can have an example," asked Sakura timidly, suddenly self conscious of herself in the presence of their sensei and her team.

"My name is Kakashi Hatake, I have many likes and dislikes and a few hobbies, but those are none of your business. Your turn," he drawled before returning his attention to the orange covered book that he had been reading. The only thing they learned about him was his name, noted Sasuke silently but didn't voice anything yet.

"My name is Sakura Haruno. My dream," she stole a quick glance at her teammates and blushed, "My future," again she looked at the dark haired boy sitting next to her and blushed. "As for hobbies, I like playing with a very close friend and collecting exotic ribbons," she pointed to a bright red rib boned head band of Konoha that she was wearing on her hair. "I also like reading about the human anatomy. The only things I hate are bullies and people who decide to torment others for no reason." Well that took Kakashi a little by surprise, he had thought she would be an ardent fan of the Uchiha, if Iruka's words held any merit, and to a degree she was. But she could be a lot more with just a slight push in the right direction.

"Alright, you next," he said as he pointed towards Sasuke.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha," he rasped his voice barely above a whisper; it did not help the matter that he held his hands right over his mouth either. "I have a dream, well more of an ambition and that is to resurrect my clan, and to kill a certain man."

"Cool," thought Sakura.

"Creepy," thought Naruto.

"Great!" thought Kakashi. "So I have a semi fan-girl, a mentally imbalanced brat high on revenge, and Naruto, the only positive and normal member in his team. "And they think Naruto is weird."

"Alright and you?" he said as he looked at the blonde but did not really have to point since Naruto was the only one left.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki!" proclaimed the jinchuuriki loudly. "I like ramen, especially Ichiraku's, and training, and hate the three minutes it takes ramen to heat up. My dream is to become the Hokage of Konoha one day!"

"Big dream," thought Sakura.

"Dope," thought Sasuke a little annoyed.

"Well, I knew that," thought Kakashi lazily.

"Alright, now that we are all good friends," everybody sweat dropped except for Kakashi, who was giving his unique eye-smile to his students. "I will meet you guys tomorrow for the last test before you become full-fledged genins. Meet me at training ground ten at six o'clock tomorrow and don't eat breakfast."

"Oh darn!" thought Sakura. "I had nearly forgotten about that," she remembered the little chat she had with Kurenai Yuuhi back at the ramen stand where she had gone to have lunch with Naruto and Ino the previous week. She quickly realized that she was the only one still standing on the roof; her teammates were already moving towards the exit after her sensei. "Hey wait up," she called as she ran to catch up.

Team Seven reached the road leading out of the academy and Sasuke seemed to be going the opposite direction to Naruto who was apparently talking to Kakashi-sensei about something. Not wanting to have a repeat of the previous week when she had asked Sasuke for a date, Sakura decided that she would follow Naruto and hang out with him until she found a better way to get Sasuke's affections, so she started after the blonde although she followed him a few steps behind not wanting to interrupt the discussion he was having with the masked Jounin.

"Kakashi-sensei, did you know about this?" asked Naruto in a subdued voice, it was clear what he was referring to.

"Yes, Naruto I knew," replied the former ANBU operative as he looked at the blonde closely.

"Exactly how many people knew about my status?" he asked as anger started to form in the pit of his stomach. Even Jiji had hid the truth about him.

"Only the people from your generation do not know about you," said Kakashi with a sigh, since the blonde had come to know of the truth, the Jounin decided it was best for him to know the whole truth. Not to his surprise he saw the blonde nod. After all he was quite perceptive and it was not that hard to notice the harsh glares and open hatred that the villagers showed towards him whenever they saw him.

"And none of you decided it was important for me to know why I was treated the way by the people from my own village?" he questioned, yet the way his tone sounded made the Jounin flinch. He wished could do something, anything, to ease the blonde from the pain he was surely feeling.

"Naruto, I can understand your feelings right now, but you have to understand we had no choice." Kakashi stopped as he turned to look at the downcast expression of his, now official, student.

"No choice?" he questioned in a hollow voice as he looked up at Kakashi with a hurt expression. "NO CHOICE!" shouted the blonde as he glared at the defeated expression that Kakashi had on his face.

"What could we do?" asked the Jounin as he returned his student's glare with a calm look. "Hiruzen Sarutobi in not only the Hokage but also your official guardian, there was no way we could go against his word without ending ourselves in the ANBU cells, and even more importantly you have to understand that all the people you have to consider your precious people, they consider you precious too. Anko, Kurenai, and even Iruka see you as their little brother, and you know Asuma is your Uncle. Tenzo sees you as one of his dearest friends and I…" he trailed off as he looked down hesitating to tell Naruto just how important he had become to the Jounin.

"You what sensei, what do you see me as?" asked Naruto as he looked at the Jounin with a scrutinizing gaze.

"Naruto, you are my pillar, you were the one that helped me get over my…own fears. You helped me understand what it meant to lead a free life, a life where you can move on from the past and look to the future. You were the reason I could move on from the death of Obito and Rin's sacrifice, I could move on from the noble act of my sensei and his wife Kushina, and also forgive my father for his betrayal against Konoha. Do you know why, because you made me realize that there is nothing more important than the people you hold dear to your heart, and my father held his teammates dear so for their sake he did what he thought was the only way to save them. Naruto you are more than blood to me…you are family," Kakashi whispered the final part out but it was audible to the young jinchuuriki. Kakashi did look at the blonde's face to see the stunned expression he had on. It shouldn't be that much of a shock, he was important to the people who came to know him.

"I didn't realize that you all thought of me like that," muttered Naruto as he looked sheepishly back up at his teacher.

"Did you talk to Hokage-sama about this yet?" asked Kakashi, if he was being so cold towards them, how cold was he to the person he considered a grandfather? "Well, how did it go?" Naruto took a deep breath before answering.

"Let's just say it is going to take some time for me and him to get back to the same terms as we were before. I forgave him, but I still need a little time to get over this in my own way. I hope you understand," he said as he looked up at Kakashi and gave a small smile, very unlike the one he usually threw around.

Kakashi nodded, "Of course Naruto, take all the time you need. By the way, want to get some ramen, my treat," enticed the masked Jounin only to get the most surprising answer.

"No, I've got to take up someone on an earlier offer," he replied as he turned around to walk back towards Sakura who seemed to be looking towards them with green eyes so wide that they were ready to pop off her face.

"They do seem to grow up fast," thought the masked Jounin as he made his way towards one of the joints where all the Jounins decided they wanted to meet up for lunch and talk about their genin teams. He stopped when Naruto's voice reached him.

"You know I will not be getting to the training grounds before eight," the nonchalant and familiar way that Naruto shouted it brought a smile to the retreating Kakashi's face.

"N-Naruto, are you alright?" asked Sakura as she saw her teammate walk back to her after having what appeared to be a heated conversation with their sensei.

"Fine Sakura-chan, where do you want to go for lunch?" he asked as he gave his usual broad grin to her making her believe that he was alright.

"How about something other than ramen?" asked the kunoichi hopefully, but got a whine in return.

"Sakura-chaaaaan."

_FEW HOURS LATER AT THE LAKESIDE_

Naruto and Sakura came to the lakeside as was expected a few hours later to find the rest of his friends already there, along with their genin teams. Even bushy-brows and Tenten had shown up, which was surprising considering the fact that Neji was not with them. Ino, Hinata, and Tenten were talking amongst themselves under a tree and Sakura quickly hurried to join them while Naruto went over to the place the boys had claimed. Shino was leaning against a tree as he stoically listened to the conversations that they were having, but did not have much to say himself. Kiba, Choji and Shikamaru were the ones that were talking constantly, while Lee was doing simple stretches as he listened to the conversation intently.

"Hey guys, how was your first day with the Jounin Senseis?" asked the blonde excitedly as he joined the others and sat down next to Shikamaru.

"We had lunch together as we got to know a little bit about each other," said Choji and Shikamaru nodded in agreement, that was Asuma-sensei for you and by the way he loved barbeque and steaks.

"What about you?" asked Naruto as he turned to Kiba, who gave him a small grin before he started speaking.

"Went to the park where we talked for a while. She said that she would give us a simple team exercise tomorrow before we began more intense training and doing missions."

"Hmm, how was yours Naruto?" asked Choji as he snacked on some more chips.

"Nothing too fancy, he arrived kinda late and we met him on the roof of the academy where we talked and introduced ourselves. He said that he would give us a survival test tomorrow morning before taking us on as his official genin team," replied Naruto as he got wide eyed stares from his friends, even Shino was looking at Naruto curiously and Lee had stopped his stretching as he tried to think why their sensei would do something like that. "What?" asked Naruto, a little thrown off by their odd reactions.

"Well since technically we are all genins, why would your sensei decide to give you another test before making you his official team?" Naruto heard Shino talk for the first time, but after he got over his shock he started to get suspicious.

"Hmm, it does make me wonder why he would be giving us a second test. If it's the bell test then he probably just wants to see if we can work as a team. That probably serves the purpose of letting him know where we stand skill wise, not a bad idea to gauge new students' abilities," thought Naruto before dismissing their worries with a wave of his hand. "It does not matter, we can deal with that when we have to," said the blonde before turning to look at them excitedly. "So can we play ninja tag now?"

"You really like it don't you?" asked Shikamaru as he looked at Naruto with a raised eyebrow.

**Hey guys, I hope you liked it. So, yes I am keeping the Cannon teams but still I am going to change a lot of things because our main character is different. As always ideas and opinions from readers are always welcome and if you would like to discuss the story in farther detail, just send me a quick P.M. Still loving the reviews I have been getting lately, so please keep them coming Poll about Zabuza's sword still stands. Sorry for the late update people but as I said, my internship and teaching job has started this month so I will probably a chapter a week, sorry. And please, please, please don't forget to review. **

**Thanks,**

**Tanneal. **


	7. Meetings

**Meetings**

Naruto walked at a leisurely pace as he reached the usual training grounds for Team Seven munching on an apple. It was almost eight o'clock and he knew that Kakashi would be arriving soon. As he stepped onto the large grassy area, a smirk appeared on his face as he saw his other teammates present and by the looks of it they had been waiting there for quite some time. Sakura, it seemed, was sitting on the ground, leaning against the tree while Sasuke stood to her left also leaning against the tree. As the blonde reached the pair, he realized that while Sasuke was just relaxing with his eyes closed, he was very awake and aware of his surroundings but Sakura was soundly asleep.

"Oh well," muttered the blonde as he sat down to the pink haired girl's right and started to eat the rest of his apple. "Oi, Sakura-chan," said the blonde as he shook his pink haired friend lightly. When he got no response, he shook her a little harder. "Hey, wake up!" The only response he got this time was Sakura turning a little towards him before wrapping her arms around him, grabbing him like a pillow as she slept more comfortably with her head now on Naruto's shoulder. The blonde boy blushed a furious shade of red as he realized their physical positions and quickly disentangled himself from her before jumping up. Sakura unceremoniously fell on the ground as her support was suddenly standing a few feet away from her. Slowly she pulled herself off the ground before going back to sleep as she leaned back against the tree trunk. Naruto looked at Sasuke to see him smirking slyly as he looked at Naruto's flustered face.

"Sasuke, do you know what this test we are having is about?" asked the blonde trying to gauge the boy's reaction to a team member, if he wanted to be friends or even accepted, he knew that the signs he would be showing are either amiable, or that of insecurity.

"No," he replied nonchalantly. "But whatever it is, I know I will do better than the dead last of the class," he sneered. Naruto really could not argue with that without blowing his cover, he knew that according to class dynamics the top student of the class should get paired with the last one to form a balanced out team, and technically he did fail, but it did make him wonder why, after all Iruka knew about his apprenticeship to Jiji. So he just took a deep breath and remained calm as he waited for Kakashi to appear.

"Yo," nobody really needed to see who it was that gave the familiar greeting, but Naruto was rather surprised when he felt the killer intent leaking from Sasuke as he glared at their Jounin sensei. The blonde just shook his head as he went to wake the still sleeping Kunoichi by the tree.

"Maa maa Sasuke, calm down," said the silver haired man as he shook his hands frantically in front of the annoyed Uchiha. "You know I had to take the longer route because a black cat crossed my path," he said as he gave an eye smile towards him, only to get reprimanded by another one of his students.

"Save the lame excuse sensei!" shouted an obviously peeved, and now awake, Sakura as she too glared at the slacker of a Sensei.

"Ne Kakashi-sensei, you really did piss them off," commented Naruto as he stood off to the side making the Jounin give him a pointed look from the corner of his eyes.

"Let's all calm down, I will now tell you about the test, so you better pay attention," said Kakashi loudly which had immediate effect on his students. Sakura stopped shouting, and Sasuke's look of anger turned into one of concentration, even Naruto walked forward so he could better listen to his teacher's instructions. "Right now it is about eight in the morning, so you have four hours till noon," he pulled out a small table clock along with two large sized bento boxes and placed them on one of the wooden tree stumps that people usually used for tai-jutsus or target practice. "I have fixed the alarm on this clock at noon. Your job is to get these bells from me," he held up two silver bells the size of large marbles, and had a string going through the loops of each of them, and tied them to the lower right corner of his flak jacket. "You have till noon. The person who does not get a bell will be tied to the stump and won't be given lunch, any questions?" Sakura raised her hand so Kakashi pointed at her.

"Umm, sensei, there are only two bells and three of us so what happens to the person who does not get a bell?"

"That person fails anything else?" Kakashi looked at all three of his students but none of them appeared to have any questions. "Ready?" his students vanished from sight, well two of them anyways. He still did not notice the orange shirt wearing blonde standing a few feet from him. "Well," muttered Kakashi, as he pulled out an orange book and started reading it.

"Oi, you need to pay more attention to your surroundings Kakashi sensei," said the blue eyed blonde loudly as he saw his sensei's head snap towards his direction.

"Naruto, aren't you missing the point here?" asked the former ANBU in a concerned voice. It wasn't like the blonde to just stand there in plain sight of the opponent.

"No, not really, but I have a few questions concerning the fact that now I am in a team," responded the genin, as he saw Kakashi nod.

"Okay, do I let my real skills out in front of my teammates? And what about the fact that I was apprenticed to Jiji before this?" The Jounin thought for a bit as he processed the pros and cons of the consequence of such a secret coming to light for Sakura and Sasuke. Sakura would probably take that like any other regular girl and be awed by Naruto but Sasuke would be a whole different story. Being obsessed with becoming as strong as possible in a short period of time, Sasuke would not be able to handle seeing someone his age being on par with Jounins in shinobi skills and will prove a lot more difficult to control than he already was.

"No, not in training but in missions you have full clearance to use all your skills if the situation requires for it, understand? So for now keep a low profile and act like a genin." Kakashi made his stand point on the idea clear, so Naruto gave him a large grin before charging at him with his arm cocked back for a punch. Kakashi immediately went on the alert, Naruto's punches were a big no-no and unfortunately he wasn't using his Sharingan at the moment either, a solid punch from the blonde could knock out even a fully fledged ANBU, Tenzo had found that out the hard way, and even Anko had become wary of the blonde when it came to all out taijutsu spars. Using the longer range that the Jounin had, his leg shot out, meeting the genin's chest squarely as he disappeared in a puff of smoke. "When the heck did he make a clone?" wondered the mask wearing shinobi, before shaking his head and going back to reading his favorite book.

"Was that a solid clone?" wondered Sasuke as he watched the whole encounter between Naruto and Kakashi, though he was too far to know what they were talking about prior to when Naruto recklessly attacked their sensei. Sakura also saw the encounter and wondered where the real Naruto was when someone whispered in her ear, making her nearly jump out of her skin.

"Sakura-chan we need to make a plan or there is now way we can take him down by ourselves."

"Gah!" Sakura nearly shouted but was able to keep her voice low enough that she did not give away her position. "Naruto, never do that again," said the pink haired Kunoichi in a serious tone, she was still clutching her rapidly beating chest.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," said Naruto as his expression turned bashful while he scratched the back of his head. Sakura had to smile; the crestfallen expression looked so alien on his face that it should never be there decided the kunoichi.

"Never mind that, what did you want to talk about?" asked Sakura as she dismissed his apology with a care-free wave of her hand.

"Oh yeah, you do realize that we by ourselves can never get the bells from him right, we have to work together, all three of us," Naruto said in a confident voice.

"Yeah, but how do you think we will do that? And even of do get the bells from sensei, who will keep it and who will end up failing?" asked Sakura, she still could not believe that at least one of them would be going back to the academy no matter what. She was more than a little surprised when she saw Naruto was laughing at her, which annoyed her a little because she was losing her mind worrying about them all this time. When she folded her arms and gave him the most severe 'angry' look that she could come up with, his amusement abated a little bit as he explained his reasoning.

"Say Sakura-chan; have ever even heard of a two-man cell?"

"No, but what has that got to do with anything?"

"So what makes you think that we will become the first two man team in the history of Konoha?" wondered the blonde loudly, and even Sakura blushed a little in embarrassment, but another thought struck her making her protest once more.

"But he might fail one of us and then give someone from our class into our team if his or her both classmates failed. Then we would still be a three man cell and…" she trailed off as a thoughtful expression crossed Naruto's face.

"The possibility of that happening is very close to nothing because; think about this, why would our academy teachers make such balanced teams if they were sure that it would be broken later on? No, either all three of us will return to the academy, or no one from this team will. I am sure because I believe that our sensei is just testing us, to see if we will break under pressure or we will have the mind to use all our resources and still work as a team even though the possibility of one of us never making it is inevitable. So what do you say Sakura-chan, wanna give it a try my way?" Naruto's reasoning was sound and he sounded so sincere and confident that the kunoichi could not help but agree and was rewarded with a grin that she seemed to crave more and more these days.

"So what is the plan?" she asked following Naruto as they were now looking for Sasuke. The blonde genin however was not looking, he knew where Sasuke was due to his chakra signature and it seemed that he was steadily moving closer and closer to Kakashi's position, this was not good.

"Well, first we have to find Sasuke and convince him to cooperate or else it is just up to me and you," he replied not turning back, he was almost upon his teammate when the chakra signature seemed to move with a burst of speed as it collided with Kakashi's position. "Crap," thought the blonde before he turned to Sakura and asked her to follow him quickly before jumping off. They both arrived to see Sasuke going toe to toe against their Jounin sensei, and to Sakura, he seemed to be holding his own against the mask wearing ninja admirably well. Naruto looked for a few moments before realizing, that even though this was only a spar, the former ANBU captain was holding back immensely. "If Sasuke pushes this too far he is screwed," muttered the blonde before he realized that Sasuke was running through hand seals.

"Fire release: Great Fireball Technique!" shouted Sasuke as a massive fireball shot off from his mouth towards the book reading shinobi. The Uchiha was surprised when he saw that the Jounin did nothing to prevent the flames from engulfing him, before realizing that there was a presence behind him. Turning, he saw to his surprise, that Kakashi was standing there, as he continued to read his book. "When did he create a clone, much less use it as a replacement?" wondered the Uchiha as he stopped to take a better look at his opponent. Grudgingly, he admitted to himself that even though the Jounin appeared completely immersed in his book, his senses were fine tuned enough that he was simultaneously aware of his surroundings as well. "There has to be a way to take him down," thought the raven haired boy but could come up with nothing, this man was just too powerful for him. To his right, he noticed a movement, and suddenly three Narutos jumped out of the bushes and engaged Kakashi in a furious Tai jutsu fight.

"Sasuke-kun, we need to get out of here!" Sakura was suddenly next to him and grabbing his arm, she took off back into the bushes pulling him along, and none too gently either.

"Let go of me!" growled the Uchiha, he had had enough of this useless kunoichi dragging him around, when suddenly she let his arm go, making the boy land in a heap on the ground in a very unseemly manner.

"Gee Sasuke, a simple 'thank you' would have been much more appreciated," came a sarcastic comment, and the fallen boy's head snapped up before his eyes focused on a blonde boy casually leaning against a tree.

"When did you…how did you…what the hell happened?" sputtered Sasuke as he finally got off the ground, dusted his arm warmers and shorts before looking back at his teammates.

"Look, there is no way we, three genins, can measure up to shinobi with Jounin caliber, unless we combine our resources. Anyone of us cannot hope to defeat him single-handedly, so why not work together, that way at least we will stand a chance," lectured the blonde before he realized that Sasuke was smirking at him in a disdainful manner like he always does. "What, I saw you fight too, you couldn't hold a candle to him!" snapped Naruto, his irritation at the Uchiha finally getting the better of him.

"Speak for yourself dope, I will get a bell one way or another, don't need help from weaklings like you," he said derisively as he ran his eyes over Naruto before lingering on Sakura. That was it, Naruto could take insults from him, but nobody insulted his friends in front of him, nobody.

"So you think you are better than me?" asked the Uzumaki, his voice was completely different from the tone he had a moment ago, it was dark and menacing, almost sinister.

"I know I am," said Sasuke trying to sound as confident as before, but the absolutely emotionless look that had come over his blonde teammate's face made the Uchiha take step back.

"Let's see you try," said the young jinchuuriki as he took a purposeful step towards the other boy when a hand restrained him.

"Stop it both of you," shouted Sakura, the atmosphere was getting extremely tense and she knew that if it wasn't diffused a fight would be inevitable. "We have to get the bells from him, not fight amongst ourselves!"

"But Sakura-chan, he—" Naruto started to say only to get interrupted by the kunoichi again.

"I don't care what he did; I realize that other than working together there is no way of getting the bells, so put your quarrel aside for once and think of how we will take those bells from him!" Sakura was very serious and it showed by the way she talked to her teammates and the sincerity in her voice, it was obvious that she wanted to pass this test just as much as any of them. Sasuke still looked at them with disdain before turning around.

"Do whatever you want but do not get in my way," he said darkly before walking off.

"Teamwork is just not in him, huh?" wondered the blonde aloud before turning to Sakura. "Err, Sakura-chan, do you know any genjutsu techniques?" asked Naruto as he scratched the back of his head, before giving a hesitant smile.

"Yes, a few basic illusions," replied Sakura in a subdued voice making Naruto realize that Sasuke's rejection to work with them had affected her more than she was letting on. That did not sit well with the blonde, but he had no idea what would make his friend feel good, so he did the only thing he could come up with.

"Hey, you know you shouldn't be the one that needs to feel bad," he said as he took both of Sakura's hands in his. "Listen, if he decided not to work with us, that is his loss. As I have already said, there is no way a genin can get those bells from a shinobi that is a higher level Jounin. But if we want to become ninjas, we have to give our best try, so are you ready to give this a shot with me?" Sakura quickly wiped the tear that was threatening to fall from her eyes and smiled weakly.

"Yes, but what do we do?" she asked, now she wanted those bells more than ever before, she needed to prove it to her teammates that she was not as useless as Sasuke was making her out to be. The determined expression on her face only made Naruto's resolve to get the bells even stronger.

Kakashi was getting tired of fighting Sasuke; he had already attacked the Jounin twice, and both times had ended up buried neck deep in the ground. The silver haired ninja was seriously getting worried about whatever the other two were planning to do to get the bells from him. He was not getting worried for them, but for himself. When Naruto made plans, it was something that regularly people would think ridiculous, to the point of foolhardy stupidity to follow it through, but if on looked at the plan and realized the finer points in his several layered idea that when the full plan was revealed, it worked miraculously, albeit a little unconventional in its ways. The transplanted Sharingan bearing shinobi was brought out of his thoughts as he heard a raw throated yell and turned to see Sakura charging at him followed by two Narutos.

"What in the world?" muttered Kakashi as he sprang to his feet to face his fast approaching foes. As soon as the first Naruto came into his range, he attacked, shooting his hand out in a solid uppercut, followed by a sidekick, but to his surprise, he missed, not only that but it did not appear as if Naruto even tried to dodge.

"What's going on?" muttered Kakashi before an elbow buried itself into his stomach, making him stumble back before springing away from his students.

"Wrong move!" came Naruto's voice from behind him and he whirled around to see a fist moving rapidly towards his face.

"Shit, I am screwed!" thought the former ANBU, Naruto's physical strength was well beyond that of an even fully grown man, and among the people that knew him, he was infamous for his extraordinarily strong skills as a taijutsu user, nearly rivaling that of Gai himself. The Jounin tried to move, but he was already being held by two pairs of extremely strong arms, he really did not need to see to realize that the previous two Narutos had been clones. Yet, the punch never came, and when he looked back at Naruto he was a little taken aback to see him smiling at him.

"Umm, so what happened?" asked Kakashi, making Naruto's smile turn into laughter before Sakura walked into his field of vision as well.

"Well should we tell him?" asked Sakura as she looked at Naruto, as if asking for permission, but the mirth in her voice was enough to tell the Jounin that he knew now his students were playing with him.

"Just tell me already!" exclaimed the Jounin, almost in a childish manner, surprising Sakura at seeing the dignified shinobi talking to Naruto in that manner.

"Yes, Sakura-chan go ahead and tell him or he just won't leave me alone," said the sapphire eyed boy, still chuckling at the antics of his sensei.

"Well, Kakashi sensei, Naruto came up with a very simple plan of using a fluke to distract your attention while using me as a main component of his plan to confuse your senses and take you down."

"What exactly was your part in this?" asked Kakashi as the clones let him go, and he stood up.

"I knew a few basic genjutsus to confuse the senses, just minor ones that muddles the opponent's sensory faculty just enough to mess up his sense of perception and distance. While Naruto made a clone and transformed into me so that you wouldn't be looking for me, I was hiding in the woods casting the genjutsu. Then he attacked you with three clones and you couldn't properly counterattack, making them able to take you down just long enough for the real Naruto to get the bells," explained Sakura as Naruto held up the two bells showing it to him, making the Jounin just shake his head in disbelief. Simple yet brilliant, the blue eyed boy never ceased to amaze him, and the fact that he fell for the oldest trick in the book for shadow clones; he really was losing his touch.

"Sasuke, you can come out now," said Kakashi as he turned towards the woods and out came the raven haired boy, yet his countenance showed he was quite angry for some reason. When the boy reached them, Kakashi continued. "Well I guess I was not too surprised that Naruto, you, figured out the main purpose behind this test, so well done. Even more commendable was the facts that you were able to make your teammates…err teammate realize the reason for this test as well. So good job Sakura, Naruto, I am confident that both of you are ready to begin the duties to your village as the Genin of the Hidden Leaf."

Naruto only managed a small smile before he was suddenly tackled into a hug by Sakura as they both fell on the ground. "Thank you Naruto, thanks a lot!" she said earnestly into his ear, only making his smile grow, before she let go of him and they both stood up with content smiles on their faces.

"Thank you too Sakura-chan, for believing in me," said the blonde after they were both securely back on their feet, as he gave a large grin to his teammate while rubbing the back of his head.

"Sasuke, to put it bluntly, I am disappointed in you," said the silver haired ninja, pulling his other two students' attention back towards him as well. "You kept on believing that your teammates will get in your way so you kept turning down their offers to try to get the bells from me together."

"Yes, I get it. So I couldn't get the bell but that does not mean I have to quit being a ninja. I can still be a ninja can I not?" Sasuke looked at Kakashi in the eye, there was a stubborn scowl stamped on his face as arrogance crept into his voice.

"If that is your attitude then you should just quit because you are just a punk who does not deserve to be a ninja." Kakashi gave a bored look at his student, only to see his scowl turn into a look of pure anger. Noticing how his body tensed, the Jounin could tell he was about to attack. Sasuke was furious, furious at this Jounin for not only insulting him, but also insulting the Uchiha clan. And if there was one thing that Sasuke never tolerated, it was the fact that of the Uchiha name being tarnished. Once it was the strongest and most revered clan in Konoha, its eye techniques and strength unequaled by any other until it bore the instrument of their own destruction, Itachi Uchiha. Was it not enough that an Uchiha was the one responsible for driving the noble clan to near extinction? It did not deserve anymore insults if it could be avoided, and that is what this man was doing in front of him, and the youngest Uchiha knew that at least he would not take it lying down, not on his life! The boy took off at in admirable speed for a genin, but in the end he ended up with Kakashi's foot on his head. "And that's why you are a punk." The Hatake confirmed as he held Sasuke in an unbreakable hold, at least for the boy under him. "But be thankful to your teammates because of them you pass today, but in real life you would have been the one that ended up dead."

With that the Jounin pulled his orange book out once more and started walking out of the training grounds. "Meet me at the Hokage's office tomorrow at ten in the morning, we will collect our first mission there, and then we have team meetings later in the day." Kakashi vanished in a swirl of leaves.

_THE NEXT DAY LATE AFTERNOON_

Ino Yamanaka walked at a brisk pace as she headed for the training grounds where Asuma sensei had told her and her team to be at around four in the afternoon for some team meeting and that there will also be an experienced Genin Team that will be able to give some advice on advanced Shinobi training as well as what to expect as a Genin of Hidden Leaf. She was, in fact, looking forward to it though the reason itself was very confounding to her to say the least. She was not, as she would have expected of herself before, at all looking forward to meeting with Sasuke-kun, though she was a little jealous of Sakura not only getting Sasuke, but Naruto on her team as well, talk about being lucky! Sure she got her childhood friends as her teammates, but none of them were as…interesting or fun as Sasuke or Naruto. No, the reason she was looking forward to this meeting of her old graduating class was because she wanted to talk and hang out with her new friend, Naruto Uzumaki. As she neared the assigned training grounds, she could hear squeals of laughter, definitely a girl's, mixed in with a baser and more boisterous one, that of a boy.

"Oooh," muttered Ino as she instantly went for the trees. It was considered a felony to breach property reserved only for shinobis by civilians, not to mention, it also could be very dangerous considering the fact that some of the training fields are hard wired with traps that ninjas use to train and teach the younger shinobis how technically traps are set. If civilians were to activate them, they would be either gravely injured or worse if they could not avoid or get through the traps safely. Quickly climbing up, she saw something that she had not been expecting, but for some reason it ticked her off greatly. There was Naruto sitting with Sakura, and he was saying something to her which was apparently making her laugh every few seconds. Then suddenly he said something that made Sakura's eyes go really big before she got up and attempted to run away from him, but he caught are, grabbed her around the waist and picked her up. As he spun her, while Sakura screamed, he lost his balance and they both fell on the ground before bursting into laughter again.

"Hot damn, that's some team bonding right there! Don't you think so Hinata?" commented an enthusiastic voice, followed by a small bark, Ino looked down to see Kiba, looking at the members of Team Seven with a sly smirk on his face. Next to her stood a tomato red Hinata, and the ever stoic Shino.

"Hmph," thought Ino, as she jumped off the tree before stomping towards her 'friends' with an angry look on her face. As she approached the duo, they noticed her, and did not miss the furious look on her which immediately wiped the smiles on their faces as they gazed with concerned looks at their friend.

"Hey, Ino-chan what's wrong you look upset?" asked Naruto as he gave her a welcoming smile, but was immediately shot down when the blonde girl glared at him before shouting at him in a chastising manner.

"What in the world do you two think you are doing?"

"Umm, just hanging out Ino, why are you so angry?" asked Sakura in a timid voice, she knew that somehow they must have made Ino angry, but what exactly did she do?

"You two were not just hanging around, you two were fooling around. I think there is a difference. As for the way you two were behaving, you should probably stop doing that from now on because we are all genins now, shinobis of Konoha, so fooling around really does not suit you," reprimanded Ino, yet in her gut she could feel that she was not particularly angry at Sakura or Naruto, but at the situation they were in, what was going on?

"Uhhh…sure Ino-chan," said Naruto as he rubbed the back of his head, making the other blonde smile. That grin of his was too infectious for her not to smile along with it. Sakura was just too confused to say anything, and decided that it was probably nothing. Naruto sat down again, this time indicating both the girls to sit as well and they did, as they usually did with Naruto in the middle.

"Since when did Ino become so nice?"wondered a particular Nara as he looked at his childhood friend, who moments ago seemed ready to pummel their blonde haired new friend into the next week and yet, all of a sudden her anger seemed to have been replaced with giggles and laughs as Naruto was animatedly narrating something to them, the usual sparkle in his eyes was still visible to those who were looking at the trio of the newly promoted genins interacting.

"Since she met Naruto, I assume you have noticed," said a monotonic voice from Hinata's left, and Shikamaru looked to see one of the most silent boys in his graduating class looking at him through a pair of heavy sunglasses, Shino.

"Yeah, she certainly seemed to have toned down, and not just her but Sakura as well," interjected Kiba as the boys started a conversation among themselves about the new developments in their friends due to the appearance of the funny, albeit a little mysterious, boy in their class. Hinata, being the only one left out, had nothing to do as the boys started talking amongst themselves. So deciding to interact with her new comrade she slowly made her way towards her ex-classmates, who seemed to be enjoying themselves, and made her presence known as she sat down across from Naruto with a shy smile on her face.

"Hello Naruto-san, my name is…" she started to say only to get interrupted by the energetic blonde sitting across from her.

"Hinata Hyuuga, I know, but since you never really talked to me in class I figured you probably didn't like me hehe," said Naruto as he grinned at her a little sheepishly.

"It's not like that Naruto," said Ino as she gave a smile to Hinata, the girl was shy but everyone knew that she was also very kind and good hearted and was mostly considered a friend by most of the kunoichis because she was never a fighting over Sasuke like every other girl in their class.

"Hinata is a very shy person," said Sakura sagely, while also clarifying Naruto's confusion a little. "That is why it usually takes her a little time to become friends with someone new, but she is also very nice and always helps out people who need it. She was the one who helped me with the history quiz that Iruka-sensei gave us last month; I would have probably failed if she had not studied with me the day before during lunch." Sakura's compliment made the purple haired kunoichi blush a little as she looked at her feet shyly.

"Oh really, wish I knew that!" exclaimed Naruto as he looked at the shy Hyuuga sitting across from him, biting her lips while going redder and redder every second.

"Hey Sakura, what have you two been up to?" asked Ino, she was interested to know what her friends' Jounin teacher was like, Naruto said he knew Asuma quite well, and she already knew that he was very close to Team Eight's sensei, Kurenai, as well, so that left out only Kakashi Hatake. "And what about the test that your sensei was supposed to give you?"

"Oh, well the test was really hard because we were supposed to take a pair of bells from him that he had tied to his vest, the genin that did not get a bell at the end of the test would end up failing and would have to return to the academy," Sakura stopped as she looked at the expression of the two kunoichis that were sitting next to her, they were stunned as expected.

"But that is not fair," said Hinata in a small voice.

"So is that why…you know…Sasuke-kun is not here right now because he…failed," asked Ino in an apprehensive voice but was a little shocked to see Naruto chuckling softly at her words.

"But the problem was that no genin alone could beat a Jounin like him, so this test was specifically designed to see if we were prepared to give everything we had even though we knew that someone had to go back in the end no matter what. Se the test was designed to see whether we were prepared to do anything for our teammates no matter what the odds were, and if we could work efficiently as a team when required by putting our differences aside," explained Sakura as comprehension dawned on Ino's and Hinata's features.

"That's pretty intense for the first day as a genin," commented the blonde kunoichi as she looked at Sakura with a finger on her chin.

"I thought so too, but Naruto figured it out pretty quickly so thanks to him we passed Kakashi-sensei's test." The pink haired kunoichi was genuinely relieved that they had already passed his test; it seemed Kakashi Hatake was not going to make their journey as a team an easy one.

"Yosh! All my youthful friends are here!" said a bombastic voice as everyone turned to see Rock Lee with his fist in the air as fires burned in the pace where his eyes were supposed to be.

"I have no idea how he does that," muttered Shikamaru, he thought Lee was only capable of using taijutsu because he could not conduct Chakra at his will. But the displays of genjutsus that he seemed to perform without even trying left even the most proficient illusionists baffled!

"Bushy-brows? So his was the experienced team that Kakashi-sensei must have been telling us about," thought the young jinchuuriki as Neji and Tenten soon followed.

"That boy looks very strange, does he not?" asked a timid voice and Naruto turned to stare at Hinata as she turned a little pink under his scrutiny. Sakura and Ino couldn't hold their giggles even though they tried extremely hard to stifle it, but the shy Hyuuga's bold assessment of the green spandex clad genin, and Naruto's completely baffled expression made it nearly impossible.

Rock Lee's extravagant entrance was followed by four tall figures of their Jounin Senseis. They seemed to be in a very important discussion because as they entered the training grounds, they still continued, and Asuma had even stamped out his cigarette, which usually meant he was serious about whatever was being talked about.

"So what is it that you are going to do about Hinata, your assessment about her was not wrong, she is not the type to be cut out for the shinobi life, maybe a medic or…" Asuma started to say only to stop as he realized the glare he was getting from Kurenai. "Okay what; you were the one who brought this up in the first place?"

"I did say she is not the type who looks like she could make a shinobi, but that does not mean that her skills are not as good. Her chakra control and the grasp over the basic Hyuuga Gentle Fist style are very good. If trained by the right shinobis in the right field, she could very well match some of the strongest kunoichis of Konoha, but her biggest enemy right now is her shyness, if she could just overcome that…" Kurenai suddenly stopped as she noticed just what her 'timid' student was doing. "That is unbelievable; I have never seen her like that before." All the other heads turned in the same direction to see Hinata, along with Sakura, and Ino were all laughing very hard with Naruto, who had the same stupid grin plastered on his face that he always does.

"Well what did you expect, she is with Naruto after all," said Kakashi, while Asuma and Gai nodded, the blonde had the personality that just seemed to pull people towards him.

"Hmm, you are right, but I also get the feeling that some of Kiba's boisterous personality will be a good influence on her," said the red eyed Kunoichi as they made their ways towards the center of the field. "Alright Gai, you can begin."

"Okay students gather around, looks like everybody is here except…okay everybody is here," said Asuma, he stopped when he noticed that a certain Uchiha was missing until he jumped down from one of the trees. Soon enough all the genins had gathered around their senseis and Gai began talking. He talked about missions and how they were expected to do a certain number of D-Ranked missions before the Hokage thought they were ready to start missions outside the village, before going onto talking about the types of trainings that genins went through under the tutelage of their Jounin Senseis. Each shinobi had an affinity towards a certain type of techniques and fighting style and it depended upon their senseis to train the genins to become most successful as future shinobis of the Hidden Leaf. As Gai stopped, Kurenai started to speak.

"Alright, today we have gathered her to do some exercises together and to increase the familiarity between the genins, because as we shinobis get promoted to higher ranks our genin teams are not the only ones that we have to work with, but other teams as well depending on the Shinobi's abilities and the category of the missions that they are being sent on. Now we will ask what kind of things you are good at and go from there, are there any questions." Kurenai looked evenly at all the genins and when nobody had raised their hands or asked a question, she turned to Gai, who understood what she wanted him to do. Swiftly walking to his genins, the spandex clad Jounin spoke up the names of his students and their abilities.

"This here is Tenten, her skills lie in the ability to use various weapons and she is also quite skilled in ninjutsu. Neji Hyuuga, one of the most talented genins of his graduating year, he is very good at Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, and also has a few Genjutsus under his sleeves as well, and this," he stopped as he placed a hand on his apprentice and a mini clone, Lee. "Is my most prized pupil, Rock Lee, his skills lie only in Taijutsu, he can use neither genjutsu nor ninjutsu but his hard work and dedication to prove himself has made him into one of the strongest Taijutsu user in the Hidden Leaf!" Asuma spoke next.

"This here is the Shikamaru Nara, one of the smartest genins of this year, is good at using his family techniques and a little ninjutsu, but that is about it. Choji Akimichi, good at taijutsu and the Akimichi clan techniques. And last but definitely not the least Ino Yamanaka, she has talent in genjutsus and uses her family techniques quite well." Next came Kurenai Yuuhi, her intros to her students were rather curt and to the point.

"Kiba Inuzuka, good at Taijutsu, some ninjutsu, and also well versed in his family techniques. This is Shino Aburame, very skilled in using his hive and his bugs are quite good at collecting information and relaying messages, he also has some ninjutsu and genjutsu techniques, and this is Hinata Hyuuga. She is very good at using genjutsus and her taijutsu is also above par due to her training in the Gentle Fist style of the Hyuuga family, and she has retained the full use of her Byakugan." The genjutsu mistress noticed with satisfaction as she saw the little widening of Neji's eyes as he heard that. Then finally came the masked shinobi, Kakashi Hatake who gave his unique smile to everyone before starting with the introductions.

"Yo, this here is Team Seven. As you all probably know, this is Sasuke Uchiha," he pointed at the student with raven black hair before continuing. "His skills at Genjutsu, Ninjutsu, and Taijutsu are all above par for a genin." He did not miss the strained look that had come over the faces of most of the males from his graduating class. "Then here is Sakura Haruno, she has some talents in using genjutsus and a little ninjutsu, and is very strong for someone her age, and finally here is Naruto Uzumaki. He is extremely good at ninjutsu and taijutsu," with that he ended his introductions.

"Okay, now that we know everybody we will pair you up and have spars! Are you ready?" asked Gai in his usual enthusiastic manner, making the instructors sweat drop but the genins just thought that the man was a little weird. When Gai saw most of them nod, he smiled. "Let's see what you can do."

**Hey guys, I hope you liked it. As always ideas and opinions from readers are always welcome and if you would like to discuss the story in farther detail, just send me a quick P.M. I was actually surprised by the amounts of alerts and favorites I got, but people did not leave much reviews. Still, loved the reviews I got, so please keep them coming. Anyway, next chapter will be spars and then onto Wave! Poll about Zabuza's sword still stands. And please, please, please don't forget to review. **

**Thanks,**

**Tanneal. **


	8. Counter or Attack?

**Counter or Attack?**

There was absolute silence in the training grounds as the genins waited apprehensively for their Jounin instructors to choose their partners for spars as the older shinobis talked it out among themselves before Gai turned to them and spoke. "Alright, it has been decided. We have picked your partners by seeing the strengths of each of you genin and matching him or her with someone who is also strong but in a different fashion. Neji, you will be sparring with Sasuke, Kiba Inuzuka and Shikamaru Nara, Sakura and Hinata, Tenten and Ino, Choji Akimichi and Shino Aburame, Rock Lee and Naruto Uzumaki." Gai stopped as he gave a really sparkly smile to both Rock Lee and Naruto, and they both returned it remarkably in the same fashion making the others sweat drop at the very…unique display of camaraderie.

"I can understand Lee, but when the heck did Naruto start picking things up from Gai?" wondered the masked Jounin, which was neither missed by Asuma nor Kurenai.

"I will have a talk about this with Naruto," said Kurenai with a thoughtful expression on her face. "I will not let Gai destroy another young man's social life like he did with Lee."

"But Kurenai, are you not being a little too harsh on him?" asked Asuma, he knew that his spandex clad friend was eccentric, but by no means had he intentionally destroyed his favorite student's social life!

"Are you serious Asuma, have you seen the boy's outlook on life? The phrases that he shouts all the time, the way he takes the exact same poses as his Jounin sensei, behaves like him, and I don't even want to know how he made himself a clone of what Gai looked like when we were thirteen. Does that seem normal to you, if you have not realized it yet, Gai still does not have a girlfriend. In fact he never had a girlfriend in his entire life, how is that natural, or even close to normal for someone who is in his mid twenties? If Lee thinks that is how he wants to be fine, but I will not let Naruto be like that. Do you even remember how his father looked like when he was a young man?" she asked and Asuma could not help but smile as he remembered the hoard of girls and women that always used to follow him. Now that he thought about it, he had to admit that Konoha's Yondaime Hokage was one heck of a looker.

"I remember you had a crush on him too," said Asuma with a smirk, almost everyone in Konoha, ranging from preteens to old hags, had fallen for the Golden Flash. Even Kakashi chuckled at that, they never could train in the open training grounds when his Jounin Sensei was with his genin team, and they had to use the one under the Hokage Tower almost all the time.

"Did not!" Kurenai almost shouted, how did Asuma figure it out, she had never told anyone except for Anko, who was also in the same situation as her at the time.

"Kurenai, it was not a secret at all, almost everyone in our generation knew about yours and Anko's fascination with our Hokage, heck even he knew about it, and made the mistake of telling Kushina nee-chan about it, she never let him live it down whenever she got the chance to," said Kakashi before they both started laughing, since Asuma had witnessed such an occasion between Minato and Kushina himself. Kurenai had turned beet red by now, she had no idea that even the man who she held a secret crush for had actually picked up on it himself, that must have been the worst kept secret in Konoha at the time, and for an aspiring kunoichi, that's not too flattering.

"Okay enough talk about that, let us see what our students are truly capable of, and how we can improve on the things that they need to work on," Kurenai almost shouted but she was already regaining her composure and would not make a fool of herself in front of her Jounin comrades and all their genin students.

"Okay, how will we divide the spars up?" asked Asuma, there were an uneven number of sensei and the pairs that will be sparring.

"I will take the girls," said Kurenai almost instantly while the others readily agreed, and the kunoichi went off to collect the genins that she would be judging.

"I can take Shikamaru's and Choji's pairs," said Asuma and got a nod from both Kakashi and Gai.

"You want to take Neji and Sasuke?" asked Kakashi as they now had their choice of pick among the two pairs left.

"Nah, you can take them after all you will be able to judge them better with that eye of yours," Gai was very impatient to see how the duel between Naruto and Lee will turn out, both have been requesting to have an all out spar, but his dojo is not the pace for that. "I will be letting them have at it against each other with everything they got, so make sure you take them as far away from us as possible."

"Gai, unless we go to a completely different training ground, you know that will not be possible, just make sure that they stick to their own area, or else they will just roll over the other genins and we will be the ones getting blamed," said Kakashi, almost tiredly, how did his most eligible friend, Maito Gai, ever become a Jounin?

"I understand," said the spandex clad Jounin as he gave a curt but serious nod to his long time friend/rival before the silver haired Jounin collected his charges and went to the eastern side of the field.

_WITH KURENAI_

Hinata bit her lip in anticipation as they came into the clearing; she was to fight Sakura, the smartest kunoichi of their graduating class and also someone who knew a lot about the way a person's chakra system worked. She awaited her sensei to call out the first pair to spar, hoping that she and Sakura went after Ino and Tenten's match. Kurenai did not miss her student's apprehensive darting of the eyes or the way her mouth drooped a little at the corners, she was nervous about facing the pink haired kunoichi who obviously had a reputation about being very intelligent and academically outstanding from the ninja school. The Jounin knew she would have to do something about the Hyuuga's confidence, but not in front of the genins from other teams.

"Tenten, Ino, you two will be facing each other now," she called as she saw both of them getting on their feet as Sakura and Hinata took a seat at the base of the only tree present in their area.

"The rules of this spar are very simple but I will recite it only once so listen carefully. You are allowed to use all kinds of weapons but if you try to maim or kill your opponent unnecessarily, you will face grave consequences. Techniques that have the chance to kill instantly are banned from use, but if they have temporary disabling effects, you are free to use them. Bloodline limits and family techniques are also allowed as long as the previous rules are being followed. The matches will end as soon as a participant decides to give up or is unable to continue. I will be the judge of that and will expect you to follow every order I give you, understand?" Kurenai' voice was crisp and commanding, there was no room for argument and the genins nodded instantly, it would not do to get this renowned kunoichi mad at them. "You may begin."

Ino instantly took the stance of the academy taijutsu as she waited for her opponent to make a move, but was a little surprised when Tenten took out a scroll and laid it out carefully on the ground. She formed a quick seal and a large selection of weapons appeared on the scroll in front of her making Ino take a step back in caution, if her opponent was a hand to hand combat specialist, she knew she was at a disadvantage, plus the fact that she was facing a genin with a year's worth of experience over her did not quell her fears either. Ino blinked and suddenly there were three weapons coming at her, she jumped back to avoid them but more joined the first three soon it was all she could do to keep dodging them, much less find holes in the attacks and counter her opponent. The blonde quickly realized that Tenten had strings attached to her weapons, and saw a way to disable them so that she could get close enough to attack her with her family technique. She pulled out a kunai and started to run at her opponent, flanking the barrage of weapons. At first Tenten just thought that the Yamanaka was coming to attack her directly but soon realized her mistake as she saw the blonde change her directions immediately and started to cut thorough the wires that connected Tenten to her weapons.

The weapons' specialist cursed silently before picking up two scimitars and charged at the blonde knowing that few Jounins and ANBU were the only ones that could exceed her skill in melee as far as weapons were concerned. As she engaged her opponent, it became painfully obvious to the watchers that Ino stood very little hope of ever beating her opponent, especially when she had Ino cornered and beating her effortlessly like that. Hinata and Sakura watched open mouthed at the way Tenten disarmed Ino and had a blade resting against her collarbone in less than a minute. What surprised the kunoichis even more though was when Ino gave Tenten a small smile before giving her hand a rough kick and by the time Tenten had picked up the blade, there was already several meters of distance between her and the Yamanaka heiress. "Well, she is quicker than I anticipated; I guess I will just have to use that," she thought before she pulled out a pair of scrolls, these two were larger than the previous one she had used.

Tenten gave a small smirk before throwing the scrolls in the air and shouted "Twin Rising Dragons!" As the scrolls unfurled in the air, she jumped up and as weapons started to appear, one by one Tenten started to throw those at Ino with perfect accuracy and control, there was no way that the newly promoted genin was getting out of it and soon enough she was on her knees out of breath, chakra, and completely exhausted from trying to dodge the huge amounts of weapons that were coming at her.

"Stop!" Kurenai's voice rang clearly in the air and Tenten immediately stopped het attacks and quickly retracted all her weapons into the scroll. As the red eyed kunoichi came to check on the Yamanaka heiress, she was a little surprised to see her conscious, but she was drenched in sweat and it was clear that she was in no condition to move without aid. "A valiant effort Ino, well done. I am impressed that you kept on trying until your body gave up on you, but your sprit is undeniable. Asuma is indeed lucky to have a student with as much will power as you, and I will make sure that he trains you well so that you reach your full potential. Tenten, as for you, I see that you are a very well trained Kunoichi and an even more impressive weapons handler. Keep at it and someday you might be known as the Weapons Mistress of Konoha yourself, good job. It was not really a contest, Ino, she has more experience and training than you do, but you were able to keep up with her, even for a while makes you a talented Genin indeed. Rest now both of you; it is time to see how your fellow kunoichis perform. Hinata, Sakura you two are up." The Genjutsus Mistress turned to see the other two genins getting prepared to face each other, both of them determined to give their best after seeing the zeal of their classmate against a stronger foe. The Jounin smiled; maybe Ino would make a nice friend and a good influence on Hinata. "Same rules as the previous fight apply, ready? You may begin."

Sakura stared intently as her opponent's body structure. She was in the stance of the traditional Hyuuga fighting style known as the Gentle Fist. "Byakugan!" Hinata's eyes changed to that of a typical Hyuuga who has his/her bloodline activated. The only time Sakura remembered seeing that was when a Hyuuga had come to their class to demonstrate how the Byakugan works and the advantages it grants to the user. Along with a high range of vision starting from thirty or forty meters up to as far as fifteen kilometers, but that kind of ability was only gained through extreme training and a high use of chakra, something she was sure that Hinata did not possess yet. Along with that they gained the three sixty degree vision as well as the ability to see the chakra coils and the tenketsus of a person allowing them to block it temporarily to disable that person's chakra usage, a devastating ability to say the least. The young Haruno knew that she was facing a fearsome opponent but she also knew that Hinata had recently regained the ability to activate her ocular powers and if she used her own techniques smartly, she could beat Hinata.

The Hyuuga instantly noted the movement in Sakura's muscles as her shins tightened; her pink haired opponent was going to attack. As Sakura charged at her, she instantly saw the holes in her defense and moved to counter. Unlike other Hyuuga children from the main branch of the family, Hinata was also trained in the Hyuuga style of taijutsu from a very young age, and even though her Byakugan was not as strong as her sister's or her cousin's, her taijutsu form was flawless, while not as power based as that of Neji's her own uniqueness in the style granted her more flexibility and speed giving her a rather large edge over kunoichis her age. Hinata easily countered Sakura's basic stances and katas with ease before beginning he own more advanced forms of katas on the Haruno. Sakura instantly realized that she was at a massive disadvantage against Hinata in close combat and immediately started working on putting some distance between herself and her opponent. As the pink haired kunoichi fought against the Hyuuga heiress, she quickly realized that her shy nature also reflected on her fighting style. She was never one to begin the advances on an opponent and always responded only when attacked. This, Sakura realized, was an advantage on her part.

Putting a few meters distance between herself and the purple haired kunoichi, Sakura quickly went through a series of hand seals as she cast a two layer genjutsu on her opponent. At first, Kurenai dismissed Sakura's attempts at the sensed distortion technique but quickly grew concerned when she realized what the genin was doing. The Byakugan could pierce through a regular genjutsu without too much trouble but only strong users of the Byakugan can see through double or triple layered genjutsus, and since Hinata had only recently activated the use of her ocular powers, Kurenai knew that she could not pierce through the second veil of the Haruno's technique. As soon as Sakura was done, she charged in again this time knowing that she had a certain advantage over her opponent. As Hinata saw her opponent approach, she wondered why Sakura would attempt the same trick twice especially since she knew that Hinata was better than her at hand to hand combat. But she did not have the time to dwell on it too long since her pink haired opponent was almost upon her and she relinquished her doubts and moved to attack.

Surprisingly she missed her punch and got a rather powerful hit to the face driving her back a few steps from Sakura. But she was not done yet, Sakura pounced immediately as she saw her opponent reel and stumble back from her. She followed her attack with a kick to her stomach before flipping away from her and using her momentum to land a flying back kick that clipped Hinata's chin making her land on her rear with a stunned look crossing her face.

"Yeah, go Sakura!" Ino cheered from her spot at the base of a tree, waving her hands to emphasize her enthusiasm for her friend. Sakura turned to her and gave a smile before turning back.

Shaking her head to clear the buzzing noise she was hearing, she quickly stood up and covertly formed a hand seal and muttered "Kai!" to get out of any genjutsus suspecting that Sakura had cast one on her since she had missed her punch at nearly point blank range. Having Kurenai as a sensei was advantageous because the first thing she taught her genins was how to dispel a genjutsu and the possible ways to know if they were under any. Sakura, not realizing that Hinata was now out her genjutsu, charged once more, this time determined to end the fight, got a good surprise as Hinata weaved in and out of her attacks artfully dodging them, until she was mere inches from her face. "You are in my field of divination." Sakura's eyes widened, she knew she was about to get into a world of pain, and even though she tried to put a little distance between herself and Hinata, it was already too late. The young Hyuuga heiress had already started her attacks. "Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven," Hinata attacked. "Two palms, four palms, eight palms, sixteen palms, thirty two palms, sixty four palms!" Sakura fell on the grass, her body was completely numb, she had no feelings in any part of her body, and Hinata's strikes were agonizingly painful before that part of her body had gone numb. She quickly realized that in this fight, she was completely outclassed in every sense of the word.

"Damn it, why am I the only one that is weak here? Everyone is stronger than me, even Ino performed better than me against a highly trained opponent like Tenten!" thought Sakura as anguish filled her heart. She knew that before she had not trained as much as some of her classmates but she still had to work hard to get where she was currently and she had also devoted a lot of time on studying the books that they had tests on. It was not fair that people from clans got trained from an earlier age; obviously they had better chances of advancing among the shinobi world because they had an edge from the very beginning. But she knew that training was the only way that she was going to get anywhere, and silently vowed to herself that she would ask Kakashi-sensei to train her as hard as possible so she became as strong as she possibly could under his tutelage as a genin.

"My gosh Sakura that was an impressive and impeccable display of genjutsu usage, who taught you to cast multiple layered illusions like that?" asked Kurenai as she came into the pink haired Kunoichi's field of vision before helping her get to her feet so she could rest next to Ino and Tenten.

"Yes S-Sakura-san, that was a very strong genjutsu t-that you used, I would h-have lost if not for the Byakugan," said Hinata with an apologetic smile as she also sat down next to Sakura to regain her breath.

"Yeah that was pretty amazing Sakura," said Ino as she gave a tired smile to her best friend, who returned it with a nod.

"Thanks Kurenai-sensei, Ino, Hinata," said Sakura as she gave a nod to both of them before turning towards the Jounin once more. "Nobody really taught me how to use a genjutsu, I picked these small ones that I can perform from the academy library and learned them by practicing by myself." The red eyed kunoichi shook her head in astonishment that was quite a feat for any genin to be able to do without help form a superior. Maybe, Sakura was also a genjutsus specialist just like herself. She was drawn out of her thoughts as she heard a rather massive explosion coming from another side of the battlefield.

"Well I have a feeling that not all of the spars are done yet, so you four still have time to rest up. We will go back to meet the others in an hour, so for now eat these and regain your strength," said Kurenai turning back to her charges and handing each of them an energy bar.

_WITH ASUMA_

Asuma popped a cigarette into his mouth as he eyed the opponents of his students for the match. Shino, much like any Aburame he had met before, was stoic and observant. There are very few members from that clan, if any that showed emotions, attachment or any other form of what was in their hearts on their faces or body language. The Sarutobi still did not know the reasons behind the use so heavy sunglasses for the bug users. All in all that clan was very secretive about their clan's abilities or their unique connections with bugs and how they made it possible for bugs to live in their bodies, for hives and survive by feeding off their own chakra. On the other hand, there was the heir to the Inuzuka clan, a clan that practically every elemental nation by now knew of their unique connection to canines. Due to their unique collaboration abilities between humans and dogs, they had some enhanced physical characteristics such as hearing much better than regular humans, the ability to increase their sense of smell and their ability to taste a food and tell what components it has been made of. Due to these abilities, they tended to form good adversary for any ninja, and his own students were no exception.

"Alright Kiba, Shikamaru, let's begin. As for the rules, it is the same as the sparring rules in the academy." The Jounin waited as Kiba walked out into the center with an eager smile on his face while his student faced him with the usual bored expression on his face, while muttering something under his breath, that Asuma could not help but feel whether it was the Nara's favorite word 'troublesome' or not. "Ready?" he waited as both the participants nodded. "Begin."

"Alright boy, time to get serious," Kiba said as he set his dog down before forming a hand sign. Kiba quickly gathered chakra before charging at the still bored looking Shikamaru that was until suddenly he could not move at all. He looked down to see his and Shikamaru's shadows connected in a straight line. The Inuzuka cursed creatively until his opponent spoke up.

"Shadow Possession, success! Seriously Kiba, you know about my bloodline, why would you attack in a straight line?" he asked but only got a smirk in response.

"Because you were too busy only paying attention to me," replied the boy with red tattoos on his face and suddenly Shikamaru realized that Akamaru was not where Kiba had put him down on the ground. In fact, the puppy was nowhere in sight. Sensing movement behind him, the Nara turned just in time to see the white furred dog hurtling towards him at an alarming speed before slamming into his stomach with so much force that they both landed several feet away from their previous positions. The nin-dog gave an affirming bark as he rolled off Shikamaru's body and ran towards his companion who was giving him a pat on the head. "Good boy," said the Inuzuka before turning back to Shikamaru who was slowly getting to his feet, wincing with every movement, and glumly noted that Kiba was free from his shadow possession since Akamaru had broken his concentration when he had literally body slammed the Nara quite painfully to his stomach.

"Well, as you now know, unless you catch us both in shadow possession together, there will always be one more threat that you have to look out for, and if I am not wrong, once your shadow possession is active you cannot move as freely as without." The Inuzuka heir's assessment about the Nara technique was quite right, and Shikamaru grimaced as he realized that his opponent has figured out about his favored technique's weakness. He slowly raised his hand.

"I give up." It was all Asuma could do to not slap himself as Kiba's expression changed from smug to stunned, before he broke out in raucous laughter and started rolling on the ground not able to contain his amusement at his friend's laziness. With a sigh the Sarutobi motioned for the other two genins to take the field as Shikamaru and Kiba went back to sit down and watch, the latter still snickering at the easy win he got.

"You know the rules so get started," said Asuma before moving back to his original position to watch and judge. The ones sparring immediately went for their most favored jutsus as Shino summoned his bugs and they swarmed out of the sleeves of his coat, and Choji tucked his limbs into his body before charging at his opponent performing the 'Human Bullet Tank' technique. The Aburame was easily able to dodge his attacks but his bugs also had the same amount of success of Choji. The Akimichi seemed to just bulldozer over his bugs while never being able to make contact as Shino deftly dodged all his charging attacks since he was only moving in straight lines. This went on for quite a while and by the end both the genins were panting, Choji due to having his chakra levels lowered, while Shino because he had exhausted most of the chakra in his bugs and therefore could not use their swarms as effectively as before.

"Alright that's a draw," called out Asuma as he noticed that both the combatants were close to their limits yet they had not been able to land a single good hit on the other in the last twenty minutes.

"Well now what?" asked Shikamaru from his spot by the tree, making Kiba nearly jump away from him in fright. The Inuzuka had really though that the pineapple top haired boy was asleep since he had put his head in his hands mere seconds after Choji's and Shino's spar began.

"I don't know, why don't you rest up and then we will get back to the meeting place where I can talk with the others about the spars and you guys can hang out or whatever, there is not much time left for a mission or practice either," said Asuma as he pulled out another cigarette before lighting it. "I have to get a new lighter," thought the bearded man. "This one is getting rusty."

_WITH KAKASHI_

"Oh boy," thought the masked Jounin as he saw the two prodigies eye balling each other all the way towards their designated area in the training grounds. "This better not turn into an all out ego fight, or else Sasuke will be too long in the hospital for Team Seven to continue being a team," thought Kakashi grimly. As they reached their sparring spot, the silver haired ninja thought it was crucial that he diffused the environment before the spar began. By the looks of it his charges, as they stood now, seemed ready to kill each other at a moment's notice.

"Say, do you guys wanna rest a little before getting started with this spar?" asked Kakashi a little too cheerfully for the Genins' liking. While Neji just settled to give him an odd looking, Sasuke was giving him the Uchiha's most famous death glare. "Well since some of the other Jounins got two pairs, I am sure all of us will not be done anytime soon. You guys could take a few moments to prepare before starting your spar, eh?" It seemed that all his efforts were in vain.

"I want to get this done as soon as possible so I can go watch the dope's spar," Sasuke said in a flat voice.

"Indeed, I would like to watch their duel as well," commented the Hyuuga making Kakashi face-palm himself. There was no hope for these two, oh well.

"Fine, then get ready. The rules are the same ones as the academy spars, if you break them or even attempt to break them, your shinobi license will be revoked, by express orders of a Jounin, and you will be restricted to the village boundaries only. Is that clear?" his tone was cold and unforgiving, and even though both his juniors in rank looked a little disappointed, they nodded.

"You may begin."

Sasuke and Neji got into their respective stances as each waited for the other to make the first move. Neji's ability and control over his ocular powers were very high, even for a fully grown Hyuuga shinobi, but he also knew not to underestimate his opponent. Many in the village had heard rumors that this young man was a genius the likes of which was only seen once in a generation, and though Neji thought that these remarks were inflated, he had seen some of Sasuke's spars against his classmates when he was in the academy only a year ago, and by no means was the Uchiha shabby when it came to skills as a shinobi at all. Both the opponents stayed still for several minutes until Sasuke had enough. Throwing a few shurikens, the raven haired boy followed to attack, only to find his opponent was not where he had thought he would be. Sasuke jumped to the side, as he heard whistling sounds and saw that he had dodges the same shurikens that he had thrown at the Hyuuga only seconds ago.

Neji knew that attacking Sasuke with his Gentle Fist would not be useful as the opponent was still fresh and would have the stamina to dodge his tenketsu blocking strikes, so he used the one thing that he knew he had an edge over on Sasuke, stamina. Charging at the raven haired boy, Neji engaged him in a fierce taijutsu battle and the Hyuuga's opponent held his own admirably well, and even Kakashi had to admit, even though these two were had only crossed a little over a decade in age, their skills spoke of experience and a battle-sense that were usually found in shinobis older than them, they were good…for average ninjas. The Hyuuga attacked relentless, and although Sasuke was fighting evenly, his knew he could not keep up the pace he was using against his opponent for long, and as of yet Neji still had to break a sweat as his expressionless face showed that he was not feeling fatigued in the least. "At least Lee's unlimited enthusiasm to train has something positive in it," thought the Hyuuga prodigy and cracked a small smile before nodding, almost as if acknowledging his spandex loving teammate in his head.

"What's so funny?" hissed Sasuke as he saw his opponent smiling; his attention was obviously somewhere else, which made the future Sharingan bearer even angrier. Sasuke could tell that he was getting tired, already his breathing had hardened and sweat was forming on his brow. If he did not end this taijutsu match fast, his opponent would overwhelm him pretty soon. Realizing this, the Uchiha started working on putting more distance between himself and the older genin. Neji immediately felt the change in pace as he realized that Sasuke was slowly, but steadily moving back and while it was not obvious, with every blow they exchanged the raven haired boy was putting more and more distance between the two of them. The Hyuuga prodigy smirked covertly, he was right the 'genius' was getting tired. No matter, his opponent was still in the range of his divination, as long as he continued to remain there, Neji would have no problem unleashing his strongest clan taijutsu technique to dispatch him in the end.

Sasuke saw his opening as soon as he saw he was getting out of Neji's physical reach. With one last sweep of his arm, that Neji evaded by ducking, the Uchiha put a lot of force on his legs and jumped back, away from the Hyuuga by putting at least four to five feet of distance between them. But he was no done; he swiftly moved his hands, already gathering chakra in his throats before shooting a large fireball at Neji. The pearl-eyed boy's eyes widened, not at the fact that Sasuke had successfully performed the Grand Fireball technique, but at the sheer size of the attack. The fireball had to be at least the size of the small lake near the Uchiha compound diameter wise, and he was not incorrect. Sasuke had trained there for a whole week before displaying his achievement to his proud father, who had after that acknowledged him as his 'son indeed' for the first time, and he was no more than a recently turned four years old boy at the time. It was then that the youngest member of the house Uchiha had felt as if he was accepted fully, as if he truly belonged in the family of the Uchiha Clan's head, the proud, noble, and aristocratic Fugaku Uchiha. Instantly Neji activated his Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven technique (Kaiten). Releasing as much chakra as he could from every pore of his body, the Hyuuga met the massive fireball in a blast of heavily chakra induced explosion.

Kakashi was immediately on his feet, rushing towards the smoke that was now coming from the area where the explosion happened, which consisted practically the whole area of the training grounds that they were assigned to. Not only would Gai be extremely mad at him for losing one of his students, but he would probably find himself in an ANBU cell for the next several years of his life if he was responsible for not being able to stop a very promising genin from losing his life in a simple spar among his peers. He gave a dark glance at Sasuke, only to see that even the heavily panting boy was looking worriedly at the place where the explosion happened. The masked Jounin stopped short when the smoke cleared a bit and he could see the Hyuuga standing upright, his breathing a little jagged but other than that and a few bruises that covered his body, he looked unscathed. Giving a sigh of relief, the former ANBU captain returned to his previous spot, but now he was sure that his student will find residency in the hospital for many oncoming days.

The obviously angry, and quite pissed Neji took purposeful strikes towards his opponent, he was going to decimate the little "genius' for attempting to attack with one of the most revered attacks in all of Fire country, due to its sheer destructive power. Sasuke could tell he was in trouble, the pure fury burning in those opaque orbs in his opponents eyes were fearsome indeed, and he looked ready to murder the Uchiha right where he stood. Sasuke immediately took a defensive stance that he was taught while he was learning the Uchiha style of taijutsu, preparing himself to deal with whatever his opponent was about to throw at him, but nothing could have prepared him for what came next. Neji stood, less than an arm's length away from Sasuke, and almost growled out the famous Hyuuga one liner. "You are in my field of divination," and after that he attacked, with nothing short of ferocity of a lion and the force of a tiger, they young Hyuuga tore into the raven haired boy with a vengeance.

"Two palms, four palms, eight palms, sixteen palms, thirty-two palms, sixty-four palms!" Neji said through ground teeth as he continued his attacks incessantly on the younger boy, who was already on the ground completely paralyzed by the time the Hyuuga had finished his last strike. The long haired boy stopped as he stared coldly at his opponent, lying helplessly on the ground looking up. Though Neji expected to see fear on his eyes, to his surprise the only thing he saw of the younger boy's emotions was seething anger that was directed directly at him coming from the cold onyx colored eyes. He wanted to attack the helpless boy, he knew that Kakashi would not really stop him, but his own mentor Maito Gai had been able to instill a sense of honor within the Hyuuga. So he looked away from his opponent towards the calculating look of the silver haired ninja that was there to judge their skills. "He is down."

"I know," said Kakashi with a nod, and moved to check on Sasuke once Neji moved away from his body and sat down next to a tree to rest up. That high chakra infused Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven technique must have taken a lot out of Neji, even for someone who has high chakra reserves, almost that of a chuunin, it was a lot.

**So you guys must be going like 'really, a chapter with nothing but spars?' Well, personally I think this little part was important because of character development. As you must have noticed, Sakura's and Ino's characters are already showing differences between Canon and the ones in my story, well this one was important for growth, ans also the need of change. Also it was important for Sasuke, because a clear realization of how weak one is also instills a sense of modesty and honor in some people (maybe that will happen to Sasuke too, probably not though, lol). And I know I should apologize because I said that I would have the start of Wave arc in this chapter but I did not realize it would be this long, but fitting in Naruto and Lee's spar alone would have made it a little too long for my tastes. As always ideas and opinions from readers are always welcome and if you would like to discuss the story in farther detail, just send me a quick P.M. I was actually surprised by the amounts of alerts and favorites I got, but people did not leave much reviews. Still, loved the reviews I got, so please keep them coming. Poll about Zabuza's sword still stands. And please, please, please don't forget to review. **

**Thanks,**

**Tanneal. **


	9. The Course of Nature

**The Course of Nature**

Gai watched with abated breath as two of his most youthful and hard working students faced each other. They were both in similar stances and Gai did not have to tell Lee to take off his weights, after all it was Naruto he was facing off against, the latest apprentice to the Sandaime Hokage himself. Even though his favorite student was a marvel as far as his capabilities in taijutsu was concerned, the blonde haired boy was an enigma in himself. He not only was able to learn taijutsus at an incredible rate, the boy practically soaked up any and every technique that was ever given to him! When he had first witnessed Naruto in action, he had been seven and had shown off skills that genins would be envious of. Not only was Gai himself, but all the others who witnessed it had been impressed by his growth ability, yes he had the potential to become an above average shinobi. Now the thought made him laugh, above average, the blonde was already well above average and he was not even a teen.

Yet, what never ceased to amaze Gai more than anything was the boy's ability to improve without impediment. He had been well ahead of genins at the age of seven and had not slowed down at all in the last, almost, six years that he had trained nonstop under Hiruzen Sarutobi, Kakashi Hatake, Asuma Sarutobi, Kurenai Yuuhi, and Maito Gai himself and had proven many times over that his potential was truly that of a person who was even beyond a genius, or a prodigy, titles that Konoha seems to bestow upon people only after they faced quite some hurdles and overcame them. His taijutsu, as Maito Gai had himself witnessed, was something of a miracle. His speed and power was unbelievable, while people had to train extensively for years with weights and other such implements, the boy had the ability attain that speed and nearly inhuman levels of raw strength almost naturally and as such never needed to train himself with weights. But what the boy had was nearly unlimited amount of dedication, belief, and will to believe in himself.

On the other hand was Rock Lee, his favorite student and a shining example, as the Hokage had praised the genin multiple times himself, of someone that undoubtedly possessed the Will of Fire. While he had no talent or ability in forms of shinobi arts such as ninjutsu and genjutsu, his will to prove himself a worthy ninja of Konoha had drove him to become the best he could with what he had and that was his body. He had become one of the most talented taijutsus users, and while his overall ranking was that of a mid-level Chuunin, his skills in taijutsu surpassed even Jounins in raw skill. He was perhaps second to none other than Maito Gai himself, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sannins, Kakashi Hatake, and…perhaps Naruto. A small wind passed over the field and a few leaves fluttered past the genins before they blurred into action without any sound of action.

Gai was not surprised that he actually had to concentrate if he had to keep them in sights as they were the fastest genins. They fought with impeccable form and it was very hard to tell who was better than the other, they were fighting at the same level and neither seemed to be able to gain the upper hand on their opponent. Naruto was not surprised that Lee was faster than before, of course he had put on more weights since the last time he had fought the spandex clad genin a little less than a year ago, and as such his speed was even higher than before. Although he was extremely fast and his hand to hand combat skills were impressive, Naruto was more than capable of keeping up with him, though Naruto could tell that Lee was faster, if only a little more, it was there. But the blonde had something that the black haired genin did not, and that was more experience in the field of taijutsu.

"Naruto, you have improved since the last time we fought like this," said Lee, his voice completely serious, his face scrunched in utter concentration as he traded furious blows with his blonde counterpart.

"So have you, bushy-brows," responded the jinchuuriki with a nod as he also concentrated on fighting his friend. He could tell that the toll of the fight was taking over both of them as they both had started to breathe a little harder and a few beads of sweat covered both of their brows. Lee could also feel the heaviness that had started to build in his body, and Naruto's thudding blows against his limbs send pinpricks of pain racing up his limbs having a slight numbing effect due to his superior strength that Lee knew of better than anybody since he had been sparring and training with the blonde almost always in the last two years. Even Tenten and Neji knew him well since Gai used to always welcome him over whenever they were having a training day because Naruto always proved to be a good challenge for Neji and him, and Tenten seemed to like his company more than a little.

"Yosh, Naruto is even stronger than before!" thought Lee as he recovered from receiving a rather painful kick to the stomach, only to see his opponent coming at him, while he was still vulnerable in the air, with a Konoha whirlwind. "I can take this," thought the green wearing ninja, as he maneuvered his body, so that how he was moving horizontally parallel to the ground but his body was vertical. Naruto jumped into the air, intending to give Lee a spinning kick, but before he could perform it fully, bush-brows had caught it and had pushed his leg away, so that now Naruto was moving the same way Lee was, his back to the bowl hair-cut ninja.

"SHIT!" thought the blonde as he guessed what was coming next, a primary Lotus most likely. Instead of bandages though, Lee's arms circled around his abdomen before tightening, he was performing a secondary Lotus. Naruto could not be luckier, because this was a grapple hold, something that he had trained in breaking for years under the Monkey Fist style. The younger boy grabbed his opponent's bandaged forearms and pulled, applying all his strength into it, he literally pried Lee's hands off his body in a sheer display of strength that left the spandex wearing genin in awe. Before he could react, Naruto had flipped over the overly thick eye browed genin's head, and pulled his arms painfully behind his back, and now he was the one in a hold by the blonde. They were nearing the ground now and Naruto placed a quick double footed kick to Lee's back sending him crashing into the ground as he separated himself from Lee and landed gracefully in a roll before coming back to his feet. Lee also pushed himself off as he shook his head a little to stop the ringing in his ears before facing the orange loving ninja once more.

"Yosh that was so beautiful my youthful students!" shouted Gai from his place while he gave two thumbs up to the sparring genins and anime style tears of joy rolled from his eyes.

"Yosh Gai sensei!" replied Lee just as enthusiastically.

"Absolutely Gai sensei," Naruto's reply was more reserved but that did not mean he didn't enjoy the overzealous nature of his of his mentor and friend when they were around, after all everyone was unique and is this was their way of expressing themselves, then why not enjoy it? Because you can be sure as heck that you can't beat them, might as well join them, as Jiji had told him many years ago.

"Okay, Naruto let us resume!" shouted Lee as he charged at his blonde haired opponent with newfound strength after seeing his sensei's display of pride in his students. Naruto also did the same as he met his sparring partner once more in a furious match of hand to hand combat. Naruto instantly noticed the change in pace as he saw Lee pulling out everything he had, finally he was serious.

"Oi, you better not start opening gates," said Naruto in a warning voice as he dodged Lee's punch to his stomach before giving him a cyclone kick that was soundly blocked. Lee gave a serious nod before continuing his assault, he had learned his lesson last time when he had opened two of his gates on Naruto and it had taken not just him but Kakashi and Gai as well to subdue Lee so that he did not end up hurting himself and Naruto while he was supercharged like that with chakra that he could not control at the time. Later he had also learned that while fighting an opponent, one only opens their gates when they have the intent to completely incapacitate or kill their opponent, and if Naruto had wanted, he could have turned in Lee for attempting to take the life of a fellow citizen, but he had dismissed that issue nonchalantly, only raising the respect that Lee held for his blonde friend higher.

"Alright Naruto this is it," said Lee in a serious voice before he came at Naruto at the highest speed he could muster and started to attack Naruto with all the strength he had. It had been over an hour since they had begun fighting and both the combatants were breathing hard and Lee could tell that he was nearing the end of his stamina, he also knew that he had to end it now before he was completely spent. Naruto was a little taken aback by Lee's speed; he had thought the spandex clad genin was at his limit with speed, but it jumped another notch suddenly.

"Guess he was not slacking at all," muttered Naruto as he also put in everything he had. Lee was still a little faster than Naruto as he had been holding back just like the blonde. He attacked Naruto with his advanced Gouken katas, but the blonde's katas completely changed, he was now solely relying on the combination of toad katas and monkey fist that he had developed once he had learned to fight against Jiji with everything he had, and for years he had refined it so he was considered a specialist in both. They both put in everything they had and both received new bruises but in the end it was experience that was left. Naruto was slowly but surely figured out the pattern of attacks that Lee was using, and while it was not consistent at all, he was using a base foundation from which he had build his ability to fight, and that had a few, though very small, openings that were not covered when the person was on the offense. Lee relied heavily on his speed to win when he was relieved of his weights, and while he was in defense he was crouched and watching for incoming attacks, but on the offense, he was constantly moving and with his high speeds, he had not yet faced an opponent that could take him down other than Gai, and that was only because his sensei was faster. But Naruto could easily see that when Lee was attacking, he left his lower body open to attack, although to attack that part of his body was incredibly hard because of the high levels of speed that he moved at.

Yet the opening was still there, and though Naruto was not as fast as Lee, he was close, and when he had power, agility, and flexibility all built into his body, he was a force to be reckoned with as well. He knew the maneuver he was attempting was risky but otherwise this spar would be considered a draw, so he crouched down before attacking depending on the crouching strikes that he was taught by Jiji, one of the toad katas' specialties.

_HALF AN HOUR LATER_

Kurenai, along with a now completely healthy and cheerful group of kunoichis were making their way back towards the point of convergence where all of teams had agreed to meet after the spars were over to tell the Jounin sensei what their students were lacking in and know what to train their students in to make them better at whatever they were slacking as well as finding out where their students' strengths lied. The red eyed Jounin was not at all displeased to see that although two of the kunoichis had lost, there seemed to be no animosity among the four as they seemed to be talking to each other and all four of them seemed to be enjoying the company among themselves.

"Hey Ino," asked Tenten suddenly as a certain question popped up in her mind regarding the chuunin exams that she knew Team Gai would most likely participate in this year.

"Yes?" replied the blonde girl inquiringly.

"Who do you think is the strongest member in your genin team?" asked the weapons mistress in an almost nonchalant voice.

"Hmm, I would say Choji, but that is because he is physically the strongest among the three of us," Ino stopped for a few moments as she tapped her chin thinking a little bit before continuing. "But in spars Shikamaru is able to beat us all because he is really good at spotting mistakes in our fighting styles and can exploit it extremely well," the blue eyed kunoichi nodded as she finished her assessment of her team to which Tenten noted down what strengths she had said her teammates possessed.

"What about yours Hinata?" asked Ino obviously implying the same question that Tenten had asked her only moments ago.

"Um…um…I believe K-Kiba-san is very strong," said Hinata as she twiddled her fingers nervously. She knew that Kiba was very outspoken about his abilities, but her other teammate was very quiet and she knew next to nothing about his abilities as a shinobi, but according to spar she was the best at taijutsu while Kiba was the best among them at ninjutsu and he used the Inuzuka fighting style with Akamaru very well. Shino, as far as she had seen, used nothing but his bugs to fight, whether they were to directly confront the opponent or to drain the opposer's chakra discreetly, he always relied on his Kikaichu bugs.

"Really, I thought Shino was the best you know he was the salutatorian of our graduating class," said Sakura distantly as she knew she was probably the next who would have to answer the question about her team's dynamics but to tell the truth she had no idea how strong Naruto or Sasuke was. Heck she did not even know the names of all the jutsus that the two knew, during the bell test Sasuke had used quite a few small ones the she did not know of and Naruto somehow knew how to create substantial clones.

"Yeah, me too," muttered Ino as she thought about the silent boy from the Aburame clan. He never talked to anyone and did not seem to have any friends either, but whenever he was asked question in class or to perform a jutsu, he always pulled it off without too much trouble.

"What about Team Seven Sakura?" asked Tenten, bringing the attention back to the discussion at hand. The weapon's handler knew that the blonde in Team Seven was one to be weary of, even Neji had admitted that Naruto was not to be taken lightly when they were discussing his spars against Lee and Neji, and how her overly expressive teammate who liked to wear green spandex had proclaimed Naruto as his 'eternal rival'. Even Ino and Hinata looked a little excited as they looked at the hesitant pink haired kunoichi expectantly.

"I…I don't…think I know who the strongest member of our Team is," she finally answered.

"How do you not know something like that?" wondered Sakura's friend as she ran a finger through her ponytail and got a disappointed look on her face. "Have you not done team trainings or something yet?"

"Team trainings?" asked Sakura a little confused. "What are those?" she asked a little timidly as she got three sets of eyes staring at her, well one set seemed to be glaring while the other two stared.

"Are you saying Kakashi has not trained you guys in anything yet?" Kurenai almost growled at Sakura, anger clear on her blood red eyes.

"N-no, we haven't trained as a team yet, in fact all we have been doing were a few C ranked missions but that's it. Plus Naruto always gets called away as ANBU gives him notes on a regular basis for some reason," blurted out the green eyed girl, not wanting to be the object of the Jounin's anger anymore than she had to.

"Well, then I just think I will just have to change that," muttered the Genjutsu Mistress as she decided to give that silver haired scare-crow a piece of her mind about what the word 'responsibility' meant, but if Naruto had to maintain his cover he would have to come out with a better excuse to meet the Sandaime for training.

"Wow…that was unexpected," whispered Ino as Sakura and Tenten nodded, even Hinata seemed to agree though she constantly kept averting her eyes as if she was hesitating with her own opinion on the matter. "So who do you think is the strongest person on your team Tenten, is it you?" she asked hopefully, that way at least it can be justified that she lost to one of the best genins Konoha had, unfortunately she was wrong.

"No," Tenten nearly laughed. "Not even close, Lee or Neji could wipe the floor with me anytime of the day, they are ridiculously strong, both of them. I can understand why Lee is, he cannot use any chakra whatsoever so he constantly trains in taijutsu whenever her gets the chance, and it is almost as if he is addicted to training because he never seems tired no matter how long we keep going. Neji on the other hand…well he is a genius plain and simple. Every technique that Gai-sensei shows us, he get it down pat in one try, at most two, and he excels at all the Hyuuga clan techniques that he has learned until now, even his Byakugan has a range of three kilometers, can you believe that, even grown Hyuuga shinobis don't have that kind of range, and it is unheard of that a genin can achieve that kind of control over their ocular powers!"

"T-That sounds very p-powerful," said Hinata, everyone looked over to see the Hyuuga heiress looking almost ashamed of herself as she praised her cousin.

"Well looks like almost everyone is done," Kurenai's voice intruded on the other kunoichis thoughts and when they looked up, all of them blushed with the exception of Tenten, as she just sighed. It seems her teammate had over done it once more. There lay Lee, his upper body was bare as Gai was looking over it with a critical eye. Naruto had managed to knock his opponent out but not before delivering some serious blows to his body, mainly his chest and abdomen, though the most serious ones were the ones on his thighs and shins, but Gai had already treated them with first aid, and was now looking over the rest of his wounds to see if any were severe wounds that could leave a lasting scar, after all a ninja's body was his greatest asset if he did not treat his body well, he could not expect his body to treat the shinobi well either. Yet that was not what drove the kunoichis to blush red like a rose garden, it was Lee's exposed physique. Being at the age of twelve, it is only natural for them to appreciate the beauty of the opposite sex, and physique definitely played a large role in impressing a member of the other sex. Lee, though unconscious, easily had a large advantage in that matter over most of his classmates and friends.

Going through the rigorous physical training that Gai puts himself and Lee through is nothing short of ridiculous, though it did have its advantages and positive effects. Doing handstands for hours, along with more than a few thousand sets of physical exercises, having to constantly weigh him down with immense weights, and intense taijutsu training had given Lee well built, nicely toned, and a well muscled body. Lean and rippling planes were plainly visible to everyone along with the faint outlines of a very nice six-pack was also visible. Ino's and Sakura's jaws were on the floor, while Hinata was twiddling her fingers rapidly as she tried to look away but surreptitiously kept stealing glances at the genin's body. Kurenai couldn't help but smirk since this was pretty much a déjà vu of what had happened with her and a few other kunoichis her age as they had noticed an unconscious and half naked Gai courtesy of the one and only Kakashi Hatake, when they were around the age of thirteen. "Alright Gai, put his shirt back on before some people starts drooling," snapped Kurenai, successfully gaining the aforementioned Jounin's attention.

"Hmm, just doing a cursory check, hold on a minute," Gai retorted before going back to doing what he had been doing for the last fifteen minutes.

"Ne Gai-sensei, what happened?" asked Tenten, as she also knelt down next to her teammate and handed Gai a cream that she had learned from her father was effective in taking care of bruises and shallow aberrations.

"He lost," the spandex wearing Jounin simply answered, and though Tenten was not as shocked now, she was pretty much in the same conditions that Sakura, Ino, and Hinata were in hearing their new friend's skills when she had the weapon's handler had first seen Naruto in action against Lee in taijutsu.

"So where's Naruto?" asked Ino as she looked around the training ground not noticing the brightly clothed genin anywhere.

"Check the tree-tops," said Kurenai and Gai simultaneously, making the three kunoichis share glances with each other. For a genin who was not really looking for being a shinobi in his life, Naruto sure was familiar with quite a few of them. "When I used to babysit him," Kurenai started explaining as he saw the confused glances that the newly minted genins shared. "I always found him on trees, either reading a book, or…just hanging out. I think he likes tree tops mainly because only few people will notice someone up there, and as a result even fewer will bother him if he decides to take some time alone or take a nap." The red eyed Jounin almost chuckled as she remembered Naruto, when he was younger and she used to usually find him sleeping in trees. He used to usually have his mouth open unconsciously during his slumbers resulting in voluminous amounts of drool coming off his face and onto Kurenai's clothes whenever she carried him to the orphanage. It wasn't until he was eight that Anko and Kurenai had decided to tell him about sleep manners and literally had to train him for a week before he got the 'hang of' _keeping _his mouth shut while he slept.

"I can see him sleeping," came a voice making everyone look in the direction of the newcomers to see Asuma with Shikamaru, Choji, Kiba, and Shino, and the Nara was pointing at a pair of legs that were hanging off a certain tree. Well Naruto was not exactly asleep on the tree though, he was resting and checking out who were done so when all of them had gathered, they could get the lectures that the Jounins might give to them over with. Currently he knew that along with his fight, all the ladies were done, as well as all of his other friends. The only ones that remained was Kakashi-sensei along with Neji and Sasuke.

"Where?" asked Sakura as she looked around again, not noticing the feet that were dangling off a tree. Shikamaru obediently pointed at the tree, the sooner they were gone, the better, he could at least watch some clouds rolling by in peace.

"Hey, let's go wake him up," said Ino as she and her pink haired friend were on the tree in an instant, only they stopped seeing the contented and half serious smile on Naruto's face as he slept. Both the kunoichis stopped and shared a curious glance with each other before bending down to look closer at their sleeping comrade's face.

"His whisker-like marks look so real," muttered Sakura before smirking a little bit.

"Yea, kinda makes him look like a…dog? Nah wolf?" Ino just couldn't bring the right animal's name in her mind, but she knew he looked like a certain orange animal; she just could not bring its name to her mind.

"More like…a fox," said Sakura before she slowly raised her hand and traced one of the 'whiskers' on his right cheek, and he gave a deep purring sound, like the sound one would make from the bottom of their belly. The reaction was so unexpected that both kunoichis had to put hands on their mouths to stop from laughing out loud, after all Naruto just looked too cute while he was asleep and oblivious to the world like that. Ino couldn't help but do the same with Naruto's other cheek and got the same response only this time even louder, and they assumed that was simply because the stimulant amount was twice as much. The Kunoichis giggled silently, this was just too funny and uniquely intriguing to stop, and since Kakashi was still not back, they assumed it was okay.

Maito Gai had finally put a shirt on that ridiculously ripped body of a certain thirteen year old, much to the Genjutsus Mistress's relief, only for her to realize that the ones she thought were still ogling at Lee's body weren't there to begin with. She looked around to see Hinata and Tenten talking amongst themselves under a tree quite far away. Shikamaru and Choji were flat on their backs, while the Nara stared at the sky; the Akimichi did the same but also kept stuffing chips into his mouth, one fistful after another. "Where is Sakura and Ino?" wondered the red eyed woman as she gave a sweep of the whole field and only heard faint rustling coming from the tree upon which perched Naruto Uzumaki. "Of course!" thought Kurenai as she gave herself a mental slap, obviously they were with Naruto; she had seen just how familiar the two had become with the person she considered a younger brother recently. In less than a second she was perched on a branch of the same tree, adjacent to the one on which the blonde was on and was not at all surprised to see the scene that was playing in front of her. It seemed that the younger two kunoichi had found one of Naruto's sensitive spot on his face, the whisker marks. And although on some level she probably found it amusing, her instincts for the safety of the boy in front of her overruled all other as she gave a steely glare at the oblivious girls in front of her, as they continue their ministrations with their 'sleeping' friend.

"If you are done fooling around, I suggest you wake him up and get back down so that we can get this source of this get-together over with," said the Genjutsus Mistress, her voice was icy and it startled both the genins so much that they jumped when the older Kunoichi's voice reached them.

"H-Hai," choked out Ino as her face, along with Sakura's, was turning a bright shade of pink at being caught in such an embarrassing situation, giving the kunoichi on the other branch some satisfaction. Naruto could feel the little killer intent that was leaking from Kurenai-chan and decided, it was time to intervene, after all if she really checked, the Genjutsu Mistress would easily figure out that the blonde boy was in fact awake, and was exploiting the girl, not the other way round.

"Well, am I that attractive Ino-chan, Sakura-chan?" he asked as a grin spread across his face and his sapphire eyes snapped open. Kurenai almost laughed out loud, who the heck did she think these genins were playing with? After all it was Naruto, and that was probably a little overprotective of her to think that two regular genins might be able to exploit a guy whose skill in every aspect of a shinobi is that of a Jounin. With a smirk playing on her lips, the red eyed Genjutsu Mistress disappeared from her place on the tree.

"Y-you were awake all this time?" stuttered Sakura as she snatched her hand away from his whiskered face.

"Of course!" Naruto replied enthusiastically, only increasing the growing irritation that the girls were feeling for their new but friend.

"Why you—" snapped Ino as she pushed Naruto off the tree, what she had not counted on was the fact that if boy's mass moved away from the branch, the kunoichis would also misbalance the equilibrium of the branch, making them fall off the tree too. As the blonde was falling, a simple flip was all that was needed, and he landed effortlessly on his feet before looking up to see why his other two friends had suddenly shrieked. He face instantly turned into concern as he leaped catching Sakura before zipping towards Ino. He caught them fast enough and was soon putting them down on the ground as they both had their eyes shut tight, in anticipation of the oncoming impact.

"Hey, you guys are okay," said Naruto softly as he shook both the kunoichis shoulders gently and they each opened one eye before sighing in relief.

"Thanks, Naruto but don't you ever play with us like that again!" commanded Ino as Sakura nodded in agreement.

"Did you know because of that now Kurenai Sensei will probably be angry with us for a while," said Sakura in forlorn manner that made Naruto want to apologize, but it was so much fun having them rub his whiskers!

"Nah, I am pretty sure she won't," said Naruto brightly as he offered a hand to each of the fallen girls and they accepted it before hoisting themselves to their feet. Naruto felt three more chakra signatures approaching the field and sighed inwardly. "Will Kakashi Sensei ever be on time for anything?" he wondered as he made his way towards the others with the kunoichis in tow.

"You feel it too, huh?" asked Asuma as the blonde haired boy that he considered his nephew approached them and he nodded before snickering.

"I am sure Kurenai-chan will give him an earful for being so late." Even Asuma couldn't help it as a grin formed on his face.

"Oh I am sure he will get his fill," mused the bearded Jounin as he straightened to see a tall figure making its way towards them with two shorter ones following. "Well, why don't you go and hang with your friends, we have to talk a little, and then we can leave you guys free for the rest of the day." The jinchuuriki nodded before heading off towards Shikamaru and Choji, who were still on their back looking at the clouds.

_WITH THE JOUNINS_

"Nice of you to show up Kakashi," snapped Kurenai as the silver haired Jounin finally arrived on the place where they were supposed to meet.

"Maa, maa Kurenai-san," began Kakashi as he shook his hands in front of him to placate the miffed Kunoichi to only get cut off by her boyfriend and his friend.

"Shove that excuse Kakashi; let's get down to the task at hand." Asuma knew, and was used to the tardiness that always came with the ex-ANBU captain. There was no need to prolong this meeting by listening to his less than adequate excuses that he always had ready no matter how bad the situation was.

"Yosh, let us begin this youthful meeting then," exclaimed Gai as everyone sighed before Asuma began speaking.

"Alright I will go first then," said the bearded Jounin as he thought of lighting a cigarette but then decided against it as Kurenai was right next to him. Turning towards said Kunoichi, he began speaking once more. "Kiba and Shino are both talented and well trained shinobis, if only in their clan arts, they can use it proficiently and with results, though there is one thing that they both lack, and that is making strategies." Kurenai, along with the other Jounins nodded in accord. It was common knowledge that most genins lacked the ability to use moves by predicting the moves of their opponents since they had never been in a real fight themselves against shinobis. There were two genins in this year's graduates though that had the advantage of strategizing over others though, and they were Shikamaru and Naruto, both for obvious reasons. "Kiba needs more jutsu varieties because of his larger than ordinary reserves will easily enable for some C-rank jutsus, and maybe even a few B-rank ones. I would also recommend some elemental manipulation, though he might need some more chakra control before he can perform them with perfect accuracy. As for Shino, he really needs work on reserves as well as variety. His chakra control is perfect, even better than some of the girls, and yes he can be a real asset to your tem as a tracker because his control over the bugs are amazing, almost on par with Shibi Aburame, and that is saying something considering that he is the patriarch of the Aburame clan, but his reserves are low. Give him some chakra and stamina exercises so that he can grow physically allowing his chakra coils to grow as well. I know he cannot perform nature manipulation yet, so try giving him some simpler techniques, because other then the things he learned in the academy, he knows no other jutsus."

"Hmm, yes I was thinking the same things and I did give them the scrolls to learn a few techniques yesterday, but they haven't gotten those down yet. I guess I will also see what nature Kiba's affinity is, that way I can get an early start on his nature manipulation and chakra control. Anything else you want to add?" Kurenai looked at the Sarutobi next to her expectantly but when he shook his head she looked back at the others. "I will go then. First of all, I would like to talk about Tenten, and I am impressed by her abilities with weapons, her control over them is tremendous and she uses her strong points to her advantages very well, but I am also a little disappointed in you Gai." The spandex wearing man's shiny smile turned into a frown as he looked at Kurenai with a look of concentration on his face. "While her abilities with weapons are very good, and her taijutsus is well above average, she lacks physical strength and therefore hand to hand combat is a weakness for her. Gai, she is your student, her strong points should be hand to hand combat, I suggest you play more attention to her in that aspect, and do give her some techniques; she has none other than the scrolls she uses for attacking her opponents. As for her chakra reserves, I think her reserves are adequate for a kunoichi her age, and her control is also good, so you may start her on some elemental manipulation too. Now as for Sakura and Ino, well they were still able to impress me, but I am less than pleased with the two of you right now." The red eyes kunoichi turned her glare at Asuma before turning towards the silver haired Jounin.

"What, where did I go wrong?" asked the chain smoker as he looked at Kurenai with an expression of exaggerated incredulity pasted on his face. Kurenai almost chuckled but her eyes remained on Kakashi's face and the man wilted under her stare. She had hit a nerve.

"Well because neither Ino nor Sakura showed that they had learned anything new after coming out of the academy," the Genjutsus Mistress stopped as she gave a pointed look to both her comrades before turning towards Asuma. "And while Sakura has Naruto _and_ Sasuke on her cell, Ino does _not_ have the luxury of having two of the finest genins in her team from her graduating class. But both the girls are resourceful, smart, and both have a great sense of battle philosophy. If they had more stamina and jutsus under their belt, Tenten, or Hinata would not have been able to beat them in the spars. But as they are now, they are useless, a burden to their teammates, and a danger to everyone in any mission. If you want your cell to survive, I suggest both of you start a very strong regiment of training, especially for both the kunoichis in your Genin cells." Before she could continue, she saw both Asuma and Kakashi nodding their heads vigorously, everyone in Fire Country knew the consequences if not listening to the Genjutsus Mistress of the Hidden Leaf. "And Kakashi, what is this I am hearing about you not training the genins under your care at all?" Both Gai and Asuma took two quick steps back, away from Kurenai and Kakashi as the kunoichi confronted the ex-ANBU in front of her.

"What are you talking about Kurenai?" asked the masked man as he tried to feign ignorance in front of his comrade, but it was half-hearted and he was caught immediately.

"Kakashi…" the woman, even though she stood a head shorter than the silver haired Jounin, she was no less intimidating to him than his worst nightmares, and instantly his hands were in front of the woman, trying to placate her fury that was being directed towards him.

"Maa maa Kurenai, no need to get so hostile," said the Jounin as he gave her an eye smile.

"Fine, but the next time I better see some results," she declared menacingly, as Kakashi's smile turned into a grimace.

"There's going to be a 'next time'?" he asked, to nobody in particular, but his whispered comment was not missed by a certain red eyed kunoichi.

"Kakashi!"

"Alright, alright, you got me," came the, nearly panicked, reply from the masked man before Gai came forward.

"So what did you think of my youthful student Neji, my eternal rival?" he asked as he gave another one of his blinding smiles to the cycloptic Jounin.

"That he not nearly as youthful as you think," muttered Kakashi.

"What did you say?"

"That I was impressed by his skills," replied the silver haired Jounin hurriedly. "His abilities with the Byakugan and his abilities with the Hyuuga style of fighting truly make him a powerful ninja. But his greatest enemy is his own pride; the boy is good but has an ego to match. Especially when he was fighting Sasuke, I could literally feel the tensions that were flying between him and Sasuke, and it is no secret that the two clans heated each other because they both believed that their own doujutsus were superior to the other. His chakra reserves are well beyond that of a genin, and his chakra control is very good, I think he is already a high level Chuunin, by skill standards." Kakashi shut his mouth and waited for Gai to say something, but his green clad friend was in deep thought after hearing his own student's rude behavior towards a comrade of the village.

"You are right Kakashi," he said in a serious voice as he kept staring at the ground. "Neji's need to prove himself as an extra-ordinary shinobi is growing stronger with each passing day. He is becoming almost as relentless as Lee, but the goal of his pursuit is not noble at all. He intends to prove to the Hyuuga that if the strong always rule, then he will become the strongest shinobi in the clan and for that reason, he is growing apart from the family he still has. He hates his Uncle and blames the man for his father's death, and his growing disdain for his cousins will not take long to turn into hatred. But no matter what I try, I cannot change his views of the world."

"Well, all I can say is to give him some more time," said Asuma as he came forward and placed a hand on Gai's shoulder. "These kinds of things don't only need time, but also maturity before they are gone. He will grow up to understand that whatever has happened to his father, it was neither Hiashi's nor Hinata's or Hanabi's fault that his father chose to give his life. Hizashi knew well enough what the threat represented to Konoha, and he gave his life willingly for the coming generation, and if Neji cannot accept that even after he is old enough to, well then he should not be considered a shinobi in the first place."

"Thank-you my youthful friend," said Gai as he gave a smile, a genuine and serious one, to Asuma.

"So how did Naruto and Lee fare?" asked Kurenai, now that the tension was gone, she was still curious as to who would become the next Tai Jutsu legend in Konoha. First the title was given to Madara Uchiha, then it was given to the 'Professor', after that the famous 'Toad Sage' had held that name, before it was taken by 'The Golden Flash', and now it was 'The Green Beast of Konoha' Maito Gai. Who will take that name next? 'The Second Green Beast' she thought amusingly or…'The Ramen Hokage'? That thought alone sent a small giggle from Kurenai, but she covered it up before any of her comrades saw it.

"Naruto knocked Lee out," said the spandex wearing Jounin in a dead-pan voice. "In the most YOUTHFUL manner!" Gai threw his arms in the air excitedly as everyone else present sighed loudly.

_WITH THE GENINS_

"Well guys, I think we all done talking, so you are free to do whatever you want for the rest of the day." The smiles that now adorned the faces of most of the genins told the Jounins that it was a pleasing idea for their students indeed.

"Team Eight, Hokage's office tomorrow morning at eight. Don't be late," said Kurenai before she started walking away from the field.

"Team Ten you too," said Asuma as he walked off to catch up with Kurenai.

"Team Nine, tomorrow we will have a glorious mission so be there at Hokage sama's office too!" shouted Gai before he too bounced off after Kurenai and Asuma.

"Team Seven, tomorrow morning at Training grounds seven. Naruto do not be late," said Kakashi in a very serious voice before he too leapt off.

"Well that was curt," muttered Kiba as he looked at the faces of the other genins too.

"Uh so what do we do now?" asked Ino to nobody in particular.

"Ninja tag!" shouted Naruto and some chuckles were heard but they agreed, after all it was only the beginning of the evening.

"Will you play too Sasuke-kun?" asked Ino in a hopeful voice as the Uchiha had started walking off.

"I don't—" before he could finish he was interrupted as a restraining hand landed on his shoulder.

"Hey, at least stay," the raven haired boy turned to see Naruto there, with a hopeful grin on his face. He turned his face sharply in another direction but gave an answer.

"Fine, but do not expect me to participate in your foolish games."

"Alright!"

_ONE WEEK LATER_

"Tora-chan, I missed you soooo much," said an overly obese lady as she nearly strangled the cat while giving her something that faintly resembled a hug.

"No wonder that cat ran away," muttered Sakura, and a small grin spread on the thoroughly scratched face of her blonde teammate.

"Ne, Sakura, you should not say things like that in front of a customer, it gives us a bad reputation," said Iruka from his place next to the Hokage, who was also chuckling quietly after hearing the young genin.

"Now what is the next mission that I should give you," muttered Iruka to himself as he looked through the folders of D-Rank missions. "Oh how does this sound, cleaning up the park and then helping an old lady pick up fruits from her garden?"

"NO, no absolutely not!" Sakura nearly burst into tears as she heard another set of useless missions. "Why can't we get real missions, these are chores for children."

"Sakura, you guys are still genin, you cannot get—" Iruka was cut off as a sharp voice interrupted his lecture.

"Why don't you at least give us a C-Ranked mission Hokage-sama?" asked Naruto but even Sasuke and Sakura were surprised by the coldness in it. His blue eyes were also hard, as he seemed to stare daggers at the leader of Konoha.

"Hmm," thought Kakashi as he tapped his chin. "It seems he still did not forgive the Sandaime for hiding the truth about him being a jinchuuriki yet." The Sandaime sighed before nodding and pulled out a yellow folder, rather than the blue ones that they had been getting since they became genins.

"If you insist Naruto, this is an escort mission for a certain individual," said the Hokage as a mysterious smile spread on his lips.

"Who might that be?" thought Sakura as the curiosity in her bubbled to the surface.

"Hey, you can come on in now," said Iruka loudly and a side door in the room opened up.

"What are these, all I get is a bunch of brats?" came the husky voice of a man before he came in to the room himself. The man himself had grey spiky hair all over his head as well as a goatee. Glasses adorned his black eyes and rope was tied around his forehead, much like the forehead protectors that most shinobis wore. He also wore a simple black tunic with a white cloth tied around his waist and off-white pants with regular civilian sandals on his foot. But the most distinctive thing on him was the bottle of cheap whisky that he held on his left hand and was clearly half drunk by the gait of his movements. "Especially that short girly with the pink hair."

"What did you say?" Before he could take another step, Sakura was charging at him with the intent to kill, the only thing that held her back was the arm of Naruto around her waist.

"Calm down Sakura-chan, we don't want to kill our client now do we?" said Naruto, though his voice was a little strained with the force it was taking to keep Sakura from breaking free of him and ending that drunkard's life then and there. "Who are you?" Naruto's dead pan question took the bridge builder a little aback before he recovered and answered the question.

"I am the super expert bridge builder, Tazuna. I expect you to provide me super protection until I get back to my country and complete the bridge."

"Okay, now that we have the introductions out of the way, you guys better go and pack up. I will meet you with our client at the main gates of the village in an hour." Kakashi said cheerfully before he and Tazuna strolled out of the office followed by a stoic Sasuke, a bubble Sakura, and a smiling Naruto.

"Hmm, the course of nature has its own unique ways," mused the Hokage making an intrigued Iruka look up from the stack of folders in front of him.

"What do you mean Hokage-sama?" asked the academy instructor in a curious voice, making the Sandaime chuckle a little.

"Well before the latest shinobi world war, the jurisdiction of the Country of Waves fell under Uzushiogakure, and since Naruto is an Uzumaki, he is destined to learn about his cultures and the ways of his homeland in one way or another," replied the Sandaime, almost prophetically, making Iruka understand the meaning of the Hokage's earlier statement.

**Okay I know I owe you guys an apology for this extremely late update. But what can I say, with the class that I was teaching at the University, along with taking a summer class was pretty hard and practicing for the final is something that I always hate. So anyway, finally Naruto is going to Wave, so from here on out, the story will start becoming more and more unlike Canon, though I was trying to make it different before too, lol. As always ideas and opinions from readers are always welcome and if you would like to discuss the story in farther detail, just send me a quick P.M. I was actually surprised by the amounts of alerts and favorites I got, but people did not leave much reviews. Still, loved the reviews I got, so please keep them coming. Poll about Zabuza's sword still stands. And please, please, please don't forget to review. **

**Thanks,**

**Tanneal. **


	10. The Mists of Wave

**The Mists of Wave**

Naruto landed in front of the village exit as was instructed by his sensei, the blonde still had about twenty minutes before it was time for departure, but since he did not really need to pack, he had very little to do other than wander around the village and changing into more suitable gear for a mission, though he did have a few bowls of ramen, so that was a little productive, thought the blonde with a contented grin. "Oi Naruto, how is it going?" asked a voice, and he turned to see Kotetsu Hagane, along with his eternal partner, Izumo walking towards the gates, and both were waving their arms at the blonde.

"Eh?" asked Naruto incredulously as he looked at the two chuunins entering the gate stand. "You two are in charge of this gate?"

"Yeah," said Izumo with a small sigh as he took his seat. "Mr. Carefree here wanted to have a snack of Dango but is too darn afraid of Anko-san, so he had to drag me there with him," said the bandanna wearing man before he took his seat next to his partner. "By the way where are you going? You look like you are about to go to a war."

"But isn't someone supposed to be here at all times to monitor if any unwanted activity is—" the blonde was cut off as Kotetsu held his hands up.

"Dude, I have told you before, never recite laws in front of me, they make me nauseous," he said as his partner rolled his eyes before looking at Naruto with a little admiration in his eyes.

"I don't even know how you remember things that you read in a book all those years ago, and word for word too, unbelievable." Izumo was probably the less carefree of the two and actually cared about his career unlike his friend and partner, Kotetsu, and they both knew Naruto well enough because they were the ones that tested Naruto a few years back under the orders of the Hokage himself to see whether he was a capable fighter that could hold his own against an enemy. The kid, as they called him back then, had passed with flying colors and knocked both the chuunins out in less than ten minutes. Though they should have been embarrassed that a ten year old had bested them, the duo had waved it off as a fact that he was the apprentice of the Sandaime himself; it was what should have happened. "Hey what are you laughing about?" he asked suddenly as he saw the blonde trying to hide his amusement by trying to keep a straight face but failing miserably.

"T-that he is afraid of…of," the blonde howled with laughter once more as he pointed at Kotetsu, before taking deep breaths to abate his amusement. "That you are afraid of Anko-chan," he finished before snickering again.

"WHAT? What is there to not be scared of her, you tell me. Not only does she always smile at you like she is about to kill you, but on top of that her weird attitude about certain things and her crazy aura should scare the heck out of you. But, Naruto, you play around with her like you two are having the time of your lives, and most of the jokes that you two keep making at each other don't even make sense!" huffed out the brown haired man as he looked at Naruto like the guy was nuts.

"Well for starters if you knew her as well as I do, you would easily be able to tell that even though she has a tough attitude, she is a big softie inside, and the fact that she is like me, an outcast, helps me relate with her just that easily," clarified the twelve year old, making the two chuunins look away from him guiltily. Even though the two chuunins never held any ill-will towards the jinchuuriki of Konoha, they were not exactly the nicest to him. In fact, much like other civilians, they used to blatantly ignore him before they actually came to know him better personally, and were some of the few people with a rank of Chuunin that knew his status as the apprentice of the Hokage. If all was considered, Naruto would probably consider them among the few friends that he had.

"Hey Naruto, is that you?" a feminine voice reached the stand and Naruto turned around to see the jogging form of Sakura, she also happened to have quite a heavy bag on her shoulders. Naruto also waved until he got elbowed in the stomach by Kotetsu.

"Hey, what was that—" again he was cut off as Izumo whispered to him.

"Who is the lady friend dude?" he asked as he wiggled his eyebrows and a suggestive smirk spread on his face.

"Guys, she is my teammate, remember I told you, I got in Team Seven?" said Naruto as he made a face at Izumo, sometimes he never understood why they made fun of people that actually had girlfriends or were in relationships. Shouldn't the joke be on them that they couldn't find someone to love them like the others who did?

"Well does she like you?" asked Kotetsu as a sly smirk started to form on his face.

"No, she likes someone else," replied the blonde just as he felt the chakra signature of Sasuke landing somewhere behind him.

"Let me guess," Izumo began as he seemed to be looking at someone else. "That guy has black hair, black eyes, and usually wears a dark blue t-shirt, and white shorts?"

"Yup, the one and only Uchiha Sasuke," replied the young jinchuuriki in a bored tone.

"Hey, I had heard that the guy was mentally unstable, how did he get allowed into the shinobi program at all?" wondered Kotetsu, loud enough for only Naruto and Izumo to hear, but low enough that nobody farther away could.

"Hmm, don't know," muttered Izumo with a shrug, and even Naruto did not know the answer to that.

"Well where is your mission at Naruto?" asked the bandanna wearing man.

"In Wave country, have you been there before?" this time it was Naruto's pink haired teammate that answered the question. "Hello, my name is Sakura Haruno by the way," she introduced herself, as she extended her hand towards the chuunin guards.

"Ahh, Sakura-san, my name is Izumo," replied the man as he took the younger girl's hand and gave it a quick shake.

"And mine is Kotetsu," responded the other one once he had shook her hand too. "I don't really know much about the Wave though, never really been there before. But, there are some things that I know about the small country."

"Any information would be helpful, Kotetsu-san," said Sakura with a hopeful smile, and even Naruto nodded, there were very few things that he had read about Wave country in the books he was given by Jiji, they were mostly about Fire Country, and the Hidden Leaf's history.

"Well, I know that they really have very little economy to talk about unless the fish trading companies, but almost all of them are owned by Gatou Corporation. As you must already know, Gatou mostly deals with exportation through water routes, so Wave makes a perfect candidate for them because they have no inland route to other countries, though if you ask me, their government should have taken major steps to build bridges connecting to the elemental nations, at least that way, the commoners, and peasants would have a way of selling their wares without having to have them go through Gatou's checks. That man is a quality class seller, anything he exports are of the best quality, and as a result only the wealthiest of people can buy wares that are coming from his company. The only candidates I can think of are extremely high level shinobis, the Daimyos, and other men of very wealthy businesses and jobs. Well, if I really had to say anything at all, Gatou Company is the only one that is holding Wave up, without them, Wave would have collapsed into total poverty a long time ago," Kotetsu stopped talking a little bit before continuing. "So is this your first C-Ranked mission?"

"Yeah," replied Naruto, a little too nonchalantly for his female comrade's liking.

"Are you not worried Naruto?" she asked in an apprehensive voice, it was not unheard of that genins were severely injured in these missions, though only rarely.

"Eh, not really Sakura-chan, we have Kakashi-sensei with us, remember?" he said as he gave a wide grin to which the green eyed girl could only shake her head. It seemed there was nothing that could make her blonde friend afraid or nervous, but then again, that was what she liked about him; he was like this unshakable pillar of brightness that no amount of darkness could subdue.

"So Naruto where is your stuff?" asked Sakura, as she noticed he had no backpack with him.

"Well, I have all the things I need right here," replied the jinchuuriki as he pulled out a small pocket-scroll for Sakura to see.

"B-but that can only hold like a few kunais and that's it, it cannot hold your clothes and other things that you might need," said the pink haired girl a little distressed.

"But, that is on the regular scrolls, you see, I modified the storage seal on this one, so now it can hold a lot more," responded the blonde as he gave a self satisfying grin to his comrade, though it looked like she didn't buy his statement at all.

"Eh? How can you do that?" asked the Haruno with new interest in her tone. That could save her a lot of trouble in the future.

"Uh…simple fuuinjutsu?" he said confused as to how anybody can not know that, but now that he thought about it, even Sasuke was carrying a backpack with him.

"Fuuinjutsu? Like the old sealing arts?" asked Sakura again, the more she learned about her new teammate, the more of an enigma he became.

"Yeah, I learned that from my Jiji when I was very little, and it is very useful," said the blonde to her a little proudly, though she could understand why, it is rumored that learning Fuuinjutsu is not only time consuming, but one has to have an astute understanding of how the physical world works to understand how the seals fundamental functionalities.

"That is very impressive," she muttered, not loud enough for Naruto to hear, but still that was an accomplishment that she knew none of her other classmates could boast of.

"Ne Sakura-chan, why is you backpack so big?" asked Naruto, genuinely surprised that she was carrying a full sized travel bag, but ninjas when going on missions were only supposed to take the bare minimum required, not pack like a tourist. Yet his views were not shared by his comrade as a vein appeared on her forehead and she began to leak killing intent without even knowing that she was.

"What do you mean?" she almost growled, but Naruto could already tell that arguing with her could result in him ending up at the hospital.

"N-nothing at all, just curious Sakura-chan, just curious," he replied frantically before giving one of his trademark grins, and that seemed to calm her down a little bit, making the blonde give a sigh of relief. Man, Sakura-chan could be scary sometimes!

"Well Naruto what are you wearing?" she asked as she seemed to notice his clothing for the second time today and had to agree that he looked very…handsome. The dark orange tight fitting leather jacket, that ended just at his waistband, along with a black t-shirt, and off white pants, tucked into what appeared to be heavy leather boots made him look very dapper, and since he was tall, he pulled it off quite well.

"Oh do you like it?" he asked in a genuinely pleased voice. "See this jacket was given to me by Aunty on my birthday, and these boots were given to me by Jiji. My…friend Ko got me this shirt, he says I look good in black even though orange is my favorite color." Sakura nearly giggled when he said his favorite color was orange, but she smiled nonetheless, it was almost miraculous how his eyes lit up when he thought she liked his clothes, like an oceanic blue light-bulb. And the way he smiled, she could not understand it, but somehow it made everything brighter. She did not know Naruto Uzumaki that well, but she knew one thing. She could trust him with all her heart.

"Yes, I really like that jacket, but why do you always have wear orange? I mean sure it is your favorite color and all but it is also a very visible color, don't you think as a ninja you should wear a more…subdued colors?" asked the girl who wore anything but pink and red, but the blue eyed boy knew better than to point it out to her in that fashion so he took a different route as he explained his reasons for wearing orange.

"Well…um you see Sakura-chan it's like how you always have a little of red or pink on your clothes, or how Ino-chan has purple, or Shikamaru has green," said Naruto, and Sakura could not argue, they always did have the aforementioned colors on them all the time, even Sakura's own clothes were mostly varying shades of red, pink, or a combination of both.

"Hmm, I guess you are right," muttered the kunoichi until her other teammate landed next to her making her jump, startled.

"Good morning to you too," said Naruto in irritation, not fazed, neither amused by his theatrics, as he patted Sakura's back to calm her down.

The Uchiha just gave a derisive snort towards the Haruno before inclining his head towards the road. The blonde jinchuuriki turned to see Kakashi-sensei, along with their client heading their way, and even Sakura straightened up, she still had not forgotten the insult that the old man had landed on her so blatantly less than an hour ago. It seemed that the bridge-builder was little more sober as he strolled up the street towards the exit of Konoha, and was speaking to Kakashi, when his eyes landed on the trio of genin and he stopped speaking as he ran his eyes critically over the young genins that were now charged with his protection, against the vilest, wealthiest, and possibly the most powerful man he had ever known in his life!

"Hmm, Kakashi, you never answered my previous question before," he grumbled his eyes still affixed on the smaller forms of genins in front of him.

"And what question was that?" asked Kakashi, still not catching on to the older man's frame of thought, as he was too busy trying to discern how in the world will the kunoichi in their group keep pace with them with that extravagantly large backpack of hers?

"That why do I get a bunch of brats for my money?" he said, the anger and desperation in his voice was audible to the trained ear, but to a certain Kunoichi, it was just another insult aimed at her. Sakura, however, had calmed down in the last hour enough to understand that their client had obviously never hired shinobis before, and as a result did not know what they were and were not capable of, and it was not completely unheard of that newly promoted genin teams getting C-ranked missions. After all she knew that Gai's team had done more than a few C-ranked missions over their time serving Konoha as genins, and as far as Tenten's words were anything to go by, genins are more than qualified to handle the hurdles that these missions seemed to pose. Taking long breaths, that was taught to her by her sensei not too long ago during the meditating sessions that he had them run through, she quickly calmed herself and decided to take the insult in stride and show the old man exactly what she was capable of when the time came.

"Tazuna-san, I would be careful of what I am saying," said Kakashi, in an uncharacteristically serious voice as he looked at the glasses wearing man from Wave dead in the eyes. "These 'brats' as you call them have been trained in the arts of taking lives from others since they were just able to walk, and it comes to them just as naturally. And if you are still doubting them, then do not because I am also going there with them, and I am Jounin of the Hidden Leaf, one of the strongest and most revered shinobi villages in all the elemental nations, known well for their supremely powerful military forces, forces consisting of shinobis such as them and me." Tazuna gulped visible before taking an involuntary step back from the man he assumed to be a laid back and easy going Jounin until now.

"Well, shall we get going then?" asked the orange wearing genin breaking into the building tension between his sensei and his client, something that could lead to very unwanted consequences if taken too far.

"Yes, let's get going," responded the mask wearing shinobi, almost comically back in character as he gave them eye-smile, that his students had come to understand as a gesture of amusement, before leading the small group out of Konohagakure.

_SOMETIME LATER ON THE ROAD TO THE DOCKS OF FIRE COUNTRY_

At first only Kakashi noticed it, but soon enough Naruto also saw the puddle of water on the ground a few feet ahead of the group. "Really, of all the things they could choose to make a genjutsu of, they come up with a puddle of water in a place that had seen no amount moisture for quite some time?" wondered the blonde, before shaking his head slightly. The Jounin in the group was quick to act as he slowed down enough to let his genins overtake him, placing Tazuna squarely behind Sasuke and Sakura, while placing Naruto right behind the man, and had himself bringing up the rear. Every genin noticed the odd maneuver of their sensei but refrained from mentioning it. Naruto turned and gave Kakashi a meaningful questioning look, and when the masked shinobi returned his question with a curt nod, his suspicions were confirmed. Sasuke frowned, even he had noticed the climate around the place, the cracked earth, the dry temperature, and this definitely was not a place for a puddle of water. Subtly he pulled out a kunai and hid his hand in his pocket before anyone noticed it.

Sakura was really enjoying watching the scenery around her, and for once it was a change of sights for her to not only see tall towering trees everywhere, but various kinds of smaller plants as well. Both sides if their road was covered with shrubs, tall grasses and plants, in fact there were very few trees like the ones that surrounded Konoha, and that also explained the high levels of dryness this place seemed to suffer. Yet, she did not think the puddle of water to be out of place for it could be some other fluid, left by wild animals that no doubt inhabited this place. As Naruto passed the puddle, he clearly sensed the chakra signatures inside, yep these two were amateurs at best, not even able to suppress their signatures enough and trying to assassinate a group that consisted of a Jounin of S-ranking notoriety like 'Kakashi of the Sharingan'. The silver haired man, on the other hand, formed a seal discreetly as he passed the puddle, he could almost smell the intentions of the rogues under the genjutsu, and true to his intuition, the pair attacked as soon as he passed the puddle.

"KYAAA!" screamed Sakura as she saw two masked nins wrap her sensei in a razor sharp chain, that was connected to the oddly shaped claw-like gadgets that both the rogues were wearing on one hand each. The chain connected them to each other because it was attached to each of the gauntlets.

"One down!" shouted one of them before both of them jumped in the opposite directions, and the pull of the chain cut the masked man in three distinctive pieces, blood splattered everywhere and a deathly silence descended on the clearing.

"Hey, where did that blonde punk disappear to?" asked a masked brother as the other observed the area carefully before shrugging.

"Probably ran off, too scared to do anything," he responded before his eyes locked onto the man that was their target. "Get that old man!" he shouted before rushing towards Tazuna. Sasuke and Sakura got into action instantly as Sasuke pulled out a kunai and countered the chain that was speeding towards his client. Sakura got in front of Tazuna with a kunai ready in hand and a determined expression on her face. This was the client that her sensei just gave his life to save, no matter what her personal opinion of the man was; she was going to see to it that no harm came to him as long as she was alive.

"Which is probably not much longer," muttered the terrified kunoichi to herself as she saw one of the rogues grab Sasuke by the high collar of his shirt and fling him off, where he landed with a loud thud. The kunoichi saw her teammate rising, but then her attention shifted towards her opponents, and they were already moving towards her much too fast for Sasuke to reach them in time. Steeling her resolve, she stood her ground as her foes approached, her lips pressed in a thin line as she saw them throeing the chain at her once more.

_CLANG! _

The pink clad Kunoichi's eyes widened (if that was possible) even more, as her orange loving friend landed in front of her, his crouched form was enough to fill her with hope of survival. Naruto ceased the flow of wind natured chakra into his kunai as he saw his intended purpose was accomplished. The chain now lay in three separated pieces on the ground, and his opponents stared at the blonde with stunned look on their faces, though the masks they were wearing hid that from view. The Demon Brothers exchanged looks with each other, there, stood a simple genin from Konoha, yet he had been able to destroy the weapon that they were most proficient with, in one single swing of a kunai.

"Hey Gozu, he is just one little boy," hissed one of them to the other. "Let's take him out!"

"Sasuke, you ready?" asked Naruto as he sensed his teammate coming to stand next to him.

"As always dope," he muttered, though there was no sarcasm in his voice at the moment.

"The let's finish them," the blonde uttered, matter-of-factly before both the genins were upon their opponents. Sasuke attacked in a flurry of tai-jutsu and weapon adhesive combinations that his opponent could barely follow, much less react appropriately to defend himself in any manner. Gashes appeared along his body, yet there was little he could do as his opponent's relentless onslaught continued before he got a double footed kick right to his, sending him sliding on the ground, where he stopped knocked out cold. Naruto, on the other hand, attacked his opponent with the combination of Monkey Fist and Toad Katas, and there was very little that his opponent could do to defend himself against a specialist such as Naruto but to wither his freakishly strong attacks. In a few seconds he landed on his knees, before falling face-first on the dirt, consciousness flown from him moments ago.

The raven haired genin turned to see his teammate looking around the forest as if expecting to see someone coming out, though he could guess what the blonde was looking for. Kakashi had gotten out of the attack with a replacement technique, but had cast a simple genjutsu over the log to keep the amateur rogues under the impression that he was indeed dead. The whipped around as soon as they heard a sob come from their last teammate only to smile at the sight, well for Sasuke it was the way he smirked but still gave it off as a not-derisive, sarcasm less smirk, while a small grin touched Naruto's features. There was Kakashi as he was on his knees patting Sakura's head, while the genin nodded as tears streamed down her face. Finally after a few minutes Sakura had calmed down and regained her composure enough that the boys also joined the group as their sensei gave them both an approving look. "Very impressive Naruto, Sasuke. You two handled the situation quite well, and both of you are finally getting the hang of teamwork. Good job," he said to which Sasuke just looked away but Naruto's smile turned into a frown as he looked over to see the old man.

"I think you have a few questions to answer," he said as he looked at his client's eyes directly.

"Yes, I believe so too." Kakashi supplied as he came to stand behind his student in a supporting manner. "Our mission was a C-Ranked, in other words we were to protect you from street thieves and bandits at most. But you have shinobis after you that alone make it at least a B-Ranked mission. This was simply and escort and protection mission until you completed the bridge, but this requires the expertise of shinobis that are above the rank of genin, and as a result also requires more money. I am sure you had a reason for lying, but whatever it is, we are now operating outside the boundaries of our duties." With every word the silver haired man said, the more and more Tazuna realized his fault in all this, along with the guilty feeling that because of him, three kids' lives had been put on risk. That was not something that he could live with in his conscience, especially when he had a grand-child himself.

"Then we are not ready for this mission," quipped in Sasuke, he also knew that if something of this sort occurred in the field, the ninja had full rights to deny their client services and return to the protection of the village. "Let's return, we will need medicine for Sakura's and my wounds; we should go back to Konoha and take her to a doctor."

"Hmm," thought Kakashi, as he put his index finger to his chin. "This might be too much, but…" before Kakashi could continue, it was Sakura that spoke up.

"No," the kunoichi almost shouted, before calming down once more to speak. "I will protect the bridge builder. We are continuing this mission!" said the pink haired girl with determination that none of them could deny, before pulling out a kunai and neatly slicing the skin just above her cut.

"Uhh…Sakura what are you doing?" asked the Kunoichi's sensei as he realized that she was letting the blood flow out of her body for no reason.

"I am…just making sure that…I have no poison in my system from where their chain cut my arm," responded Sakura before putting her hand over the cut to staunch the flow of blood.

"Oh, good observation! Sasuke you should also do the same just in case," Kakashi said as Naruto knelt in front of Sakura and pulled out a scroll.

"My leg was wounded because I landed on the stones over there, I did not get cut by their chain," Sasuke said, as stoically as usual but he did pull out a small first aid box from his bag and wrapped his wound in bandages. On the other hand, Naruto pulled out a rather large first aid box from his scroll and started to thoroughly clean and then wrap Sakura's hand in clean white bandages. Once all that was done he put the box back on the scroll and sealed it with a single seal, before putting it back in his pocket.

"Thanks Naruto," said the kunoichi with a little smile as her blonde friend stood up.

"No problem, Sakura-chan," he said as a usual grin came to his face. "Though what you did there was pretty brave." Naruto stopped talking but his admiration for his fellow teammate and friend grew because he remembered his Jiji's words very clearly. "When someone is in dire need, one must never turn their back on the human, for our emotions and attachments to others is what make us humans different from wild animals, that live by instinct and only for themselves." She gave him another grateful smile in response but said nothing as she too stood up, though the effort in doing so was clearly visible on her face. "Are you alright?" asked the blonde immediately as he saw his teammate stumble a little bit, though no-one other than him was with her.

"I-I am fine Naruto," she said with a sigh, though she was feeling a little cold.

"If you have made up your mind, let us keep moving, it will get darker in a few hours, so unless we hurry we will not reach there by tonight," called Kakashi. Naruto nodded, before picking up Sakura's back-pack, much to the Kunoichi's surprise, before hurrying after his sensei while slinging it up over his shoulder. They reached a small dock near the borders of Fire Country soon enough and quickly boarded a small boat as the man started canoeing them towards Wave Country. As the boat started gliding, Tazuna beckoned Kakashi to get to the back of the boat where the two could talk out of the genins' earshot, well out of earshot for two of them since a certain blonde could easily hear them due to his heightened senses. The Jounin complied with a nod, before getting up from his place and joining Tazuna at the back. "Will you tell me what is actually going on in Wave now?"

"Yes, I know what I did was wrong, but you four have decided to help me out so I will let you know the whole truth about what you are getting into before it is too late. If you decide to go back after hearing this, then I will not stop you," the bridge builder paused, but when Kakashi prompted him to continue, he did. "As you already know, Gatou Corporation is the only thing that is holding our economy from sinking but there is a catch behind this. That man, Gatou, is actually the reason why Wave's economy is in such a bad position right now."

"Wait a second, Gatou is helping Wave, how is it that he is the reason Wave is in poverty? I thought that was your government's fault," said Kakashi, after all he knew a little about the country, they were under the jurisdiction of Fire Country now that made Konoha responsible for any shinobi related business that Wave might have.

"Gatou is only showing that he and his corporation is trying to help our country, while in reality all it is doing is stifling our economy, and controlling our people through fear and an iron rule of tyranny. I and the people from my village are the only ones that are standing in his way because we are actually trying to oppose him by building a bridge to the largest trading post in one of Fire Country's biggest shipping points. That way, not only will we have free reign to export our products, but we do not have to go through Gatou's extremely high standards of quality, and our goods will be cheaper, but will not be the worst that is available. Once our people have established a name for themselves and this country, we can capitalize on profits and eventually our economy will become stable and our country will flourish and rise out of poverty, but that is only possible if we can oppose Gatou long enough to finish the bridge that we are building. But Gatou already knows, and he sent those hired Shinobis to take my life, and let me assure you, he has even more dangerous ones under his command, that he will no doubt send once we reach Wave. But as of now, you are our only hope." The bridge builder fell silent as he let the Jounin mull over what he had said before he scratched his head.

Kakashi knew that he himself, and if need be, Naruto was more than capable of most that Gatou could throw at them, but that was nowhere near the truth when Sasuke or Sakura was considered. While they were at Wave, he would need to vamp their training up so that they could at least stand a chance against Chuunins, Sasuke could already go toe to toe with most of them, and with a little more he would be more than a match for a few, but Sakura would need extensive and intense course before she could catch up. And Naruto…well for now he would leave the blonde to train by himself as he wished because skill-wise the boy was nearly on par with Kakashi himself. "Tazuna-san, for now we will stick around and do as much as we can but remember, we are going against protocol to help you and your country but if something happens to us, especially that black haired boy, you will have to answer to Konoha, and I can assure that it will not be pleasant. Let me ask you this one more time, are you still willing to accept our help?" The bridge builder's eyes sparkled as he heard the Jounin's decision. Naruto was pleased as he heard his sensei's decision but the thoughts of his vulnerable teammates made him more than a little apprehensive to follow through with the plan.

"I think you already know the answer to that," he said as the mists cleared a bit, and the massive structure of an unfinished bridge came into their view.

"Whoa," said Sakura in awe as she looked at the looming view of the rather large island come into view. "Is that Wave?" she asked in a hushed voice as she turned towards the back of the boat where the bridge builder and her sensei stood. Tazuna nodded, as the boat came to a stop at the pretty much deserted dock near the unfinished bridge.

"So how far is the village?" asked Naruto after they got off the boat and started making their way towards Tazuna's house where they will be staying while they protect him as he worked on the bridge.

"Only a couple hours' walk," he said and got silent nods before they set off once more, this time the group was far more silent than when they started.

"Everybody, be alert and pay attention to your surroundings, we might get attacked once more," Kakashi declared before continuing his thought process silently. "If they attack us again, this time it will be Jounin level shinobis, of that I am sure." The silver haired Jounin's thoughts were interrupted as Naruto tugged at his sleeve. "What is it?"

"Do you see that rabbit hiding in the bushes?" whispered the blonde confusing his sensei a bit before he looked around and noticed a white rabbit nibbling on grass behind a hay bush.

"Yeah I see it why?"

"What season is it now?" Now that Naruto brought it up did it hit Kakashi, those specific rabbits change color depending on the season, in spring they are grayish while in the winter they are usually snow white. This rabbit was most likely caged up, only to be used by shinobis for special purposes, but mostly these kinds of animals were only used for replacement techniques.

"Replacement?" asked the Jounin with a raised eyebrow.

"Most likely," responded the genin.

"Do you sense anything?"

"No, but if he or she is a Jounin, I am sure they are suppressing it," Naruto said and Kakashi could only nod.

"And doing a darn good job of it too," thought the Sharingan bearer, with a grimace.

"It is no wonder that the Demon Brothers failed," muttered a mask wearing voice as the group of Konoha shinobis along with the old bridge builder passed under the tree where this man was hiding. "Against Kakashi, Gozu and Mizu stood no chance." He slowly drew his sword, time to make his grand entrance.

"There," Kakashi noticed the movement in the tree. "Everyone get down!" he shouted as he almost felt the large spinning shape that came towards them before he saw it. Naruto frowned as he saw it coming before he realized that it was not an overly big shuriken, for that matter it was not a weapon meant for throwing at all. He quickly stood up, and at the right moment extended his hand before snatching it out of the air, as if that big of a weapon weighed nothing more than a wooden stick to him. As soon as he got a good look at the sword in his hands his eyes widened before his face darkened with worry.

"Eep!" Sakura nearly shrieked as she saw the size of the Zanbatou that Naruto was now holding, they way it was thrown was meant to cleave someone in two. Whoever was using it is out here to kill.

"This is Kubiriki Bocho," he said without hesitation as he looked up directly towards the masked Jounin's only visible eye.

"Zabuza Momochi?"

"Who else do you know that even owns a sword like this?" asked Naruto.

Zabuza almost sweat dropped as he was about to use the replacement technique with that rabbit to land exactly on top of the sword as it buried itself onto a tree, but that damn blonde just plucked it off without any problem. Who the hell was this kid?

"You can come out now Zabuza," Kakashi called as he looked at the tree where the former Mist assassin was hiding. Without any hesitation, it seemed, a man with no upper body clothing jumped down from a tree not too far from them. He was wearing a Mist head band that was put on lopsided intentionally. He also had wrappings around most of his face; the only parts that were not covered were his eyes. It was not a surprise that the man was heavily built and very well muscled, considering the sword that he wielded, and wore camouflaged arm warmers and regular dull colored pants with the same leg warmers that finally ended in shinobi sandals.

"Everyone get back," said Kakashi, the warning tone evident in his voice as he took a step towards his opponent who was scrutinizing them silently. "This one is on a whole different level," he said as he pulled his hitai-ate up revealing his Sharingan, which immediately put the last member of the Uchiha clan on edge.

"How did he come to possess the Sharingan?" wondered Sasuke, the man was clearly a Hatake, and no Uchiha had only one Sharingan eye. "Maybe it was transplanted, but now is not the time for such questions." Filing that away for a later time, Sasuke opted to watch the movements of the Nin that had clearly put not only Naruto but Kakashi on the offensive as well. This was the real deal.

"You three," the Jounin of Konoha said as he was clearly indicating his students. "Protect Tazuna-san with your life that is you mission; do not let him get near the bridge builder."

"You must be Kakashi of the Sharingan," came a gravelly voice, nobody needed to see to know that it belonged to Zabuza. "Sorry but…that old man is mine."

"Zabuza…first you will fight me."

"Ah, I already get to see the famous Sharingan? I feel honored," the former Swordsman of the Mist said sarcastically as the skin around his eyes crinkled, he was smiling.

"When I was a member of the Mist's top Assassination squad, I got the Bingo book that had information on you. The man who has copied over a thousand techniques, the Copy Ninja Kakashi."

"Wow," thought Sakura as she looked at her sensei with new eyes. "I never knew Kakashi Sensei was such an amazing Shinobi, maybe I should be more respectful to him while we are doing training exercises."

"Well, let's end all this useless talk, I have to kill that old man," he said as he got into a fighting stance. He quickly formed a seal and replaced himself with that rabbit, before landing perfectly on top of the water across the road from them. As soon as he landed he went through another small set of seals before his chakra spiked. "Hidden Mist technique." A heavy fog rolled in, covering almost everything and limiting vision to only about a foot in front of the person's eyes, but more importantly, Zabuza was not where he was standing just moments ago, he had used the fog to disappear and cover himself with the surrounds very cleverly.

"Well, at least I know he will be coming after me first," thought Kakashi before remembering what was known about his opponent in the Bingo book. "Momochi Zabuza, as a member of the Hidden Mist Assassination Squad, he is known as an expert in the art of silent killing." No one even notice his presence before they are dead, and the Sharingan does not help pierce this fog. I hope they are careful and alert like I asked them to. "And this mist is only getting thicker."

"Eight choices," suddenly Zabuza's voice echoed around them from everywhere.

"What?" muttered Sakura a little confused.

"Lungs, Liver, Spine, Clavicle, Neck, Brain, Kidneys, or…the Heart. Hmm, which should I go after?" Just as he stopped speaking, an overwhelming amount of killer intent flooded the area; much too potent an amount for any genin to counter, and Sakura nearly swooned while Sasuke, it seemed completely froze up. His eyes widened as he felt the amount of killing intent go even higher, making his whole body vibrate with the thrum of the chakra in the air.

"W-What an incredible amount of chakra, it feels as if I will die if I even make the slightest mistake. This is driving me crazy…the killing intensity of a Jounin level shinobi; it is as if the life is being squeezed out of me. Damn it, I can't take it anymore, I'd rather die and get it over with…" Sasuke's line of thoughts ceased abruptly as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey," said Naruto in a serious voice as his blue eyes met the obsidian black of Sasuke's. "You see our sensei there? Have some faith in him."

"Yes Sasuke," said Kakashi, snapping the young Uchiha's attention towards his Jounin sensei. "I will protect you guys, even if I have to put my life on the line to do so. I do not let my comrades die." Kakashi gave Sasuke one of his genuine smiles, now that the masked was not covering more than half his face; it actually looked pretty well on him.

"We'll see about that!" echoed Zabuza's voice before he landed smack in the middle of the genins that were trying to protect Tazuna. "It's over," he shouted as Naruto felt the sword being jerked out of his hand, but the blonde was already on the move. He pushed Tazuna on the shoulder as hard as he could, sending him tumbling away from the assassin before grabbing Sakura around the stomach and jumping away from his foe, putting more than a little distance between himself and the sword wielding rogue. He saw Sasuke had moved out of Zabuza's range as well, on the opposite side. But suddenly the Zabuza did something completely unexpected. He drew back he arm before throwing the sword as powerfully as he could in to the mist where it quickly disappeared from view.

"What in the world?" muttered Kakashi, he was there stabbing the man with a kunai until he suddenly realized what happened. The clone burst into water. A Water clone, so now the real Zabuza has his sword back.

"Sensei, behind you!' Sakura shouted as she saw the rogue appear behind her teacher, ready to chop him in half, and before Kakashi could react that's exactly what happened. Sakura looked on in horror filled eyes as he was cut in half, before he too burst into water.

"A water-clone? Don't tell me he was able to copy my technique even through this mist?" thought Zabuza as his eyes grew wide when he realized his own technique and tactic were used against him.

"Don't move," said the copy ninja Kakashi coldly as he held a kunai to the rogue ninja's throat and pressed a little bit drawing blood just to emphasize that he was going to kill the Mist Assassin if he made the wrong move. "It's over."

"Yatta, go Kakashi-sensei!" cheered Sakura, that was until she heard Zabuza chuckling humorlessly and stopped a little confused.

"Hehe, you think it's over?" he asked, his voice was deadly serious. "You don't get it do you, there is no way you can beat me just by copying my own techniques. I am impressed though, when you talked with your student there, you had already replaced yourself with that clone, while you watched me from within the mist. But…I am not that easy to fool either," this time the voice came from behind Kakashi and the Zabuza in front of him burst into water. "Now you die," Zabuza said as he expertly brought his sword in a wide arc, but Kakashi was quicker, as he ducked under the blow, but Zabuza probably saw that coming as he gave Kakashi a powerful kick, sending him sliding against the grass and into the water where he went under with a loud splash.

"Sensei!" Sakura shouted as she saw her teacher getting knocked down into the river.

"His taijutsu is also very impressive," thought Naruto though he knew that he would outclass the assassin in that department, but the rogue definitely outdid him on the water affinity techniques. Kakashi came out with a splash though he looked like he was struggling.

"This water, it feels unnaturally dense," thought Kakashi before his eyes widened. "Of course, Zabuza's element was water; he had infused his chakra in this water too, damn!" Kakashi's evaluation ended just a tad-bit slower than his opponent who appeared behind him with an almost gleeful grin on his face.

"Hah, fool! Water Prison Technique!" Kakashi was suddenly encased in a perfectly spherical ball made of water.

"Damn it, how could I let this happen?" thought Kakashi in frustration as he saw Sakura, who looked just about ready to break down in tears, and even Sasuke looked uncertain as to what he should do. Tazuna looked like he was going to pick flowers for a brave hero's death and Naruto…where did he go? Before he could look farther, Zabuza started speaking once more.

"You may have been trying to escape to the water, but that was a big mistake. Water is my favored element Kakashi, and now I have you in one of my special Mizu techniques, the inescapable prison of water. You know in here you can hardly move, and the density of this prison is so high that using chakra is nearly not an option, but you are welcome to give it a try. Sit tight, I will take care of you later, first I have to take care of your kids and then the old man. Water clone technique!" A clone rose out of the water, before walking towards the genins ominously.

"Wearing forehead protectors and acting like ninjas…you kids have not even faced your first kill. You know what? A real ninja is someone who had played many games of tag with death. In other words, you are only a ninja to me if you are good enough to be listed in my bingo book." He locked his eyes with the pink haired girl; he supposed that would be the easiest target out of the three. "You little punks should not be even referred to as ninjas," spat Zabuza in a disgusted manner before looking back at the girl, who looked like she was just about ready to have a nervous breakdown. Oh well, too bad for her. He charged, blurring into action as he sped towards the genin, aiming a kick that had taken the head off many well built men, how much of a resistance could a little girl pose?

_THWACK_

What happened was actually not surprising, though; the effect had Zabuza more than a little disturbed. Instead of having a dead genin in front of him, he had a _very_ pissed off one, and for _his_ credit, he had taken a direct hit from the Mist assassin and hardly showed any sign that it had affected him other than sliding back a few feet. "That was brave of you kid, trying to protect your teammate and all," said the water clone of Zabuza in an amused voice as he paced in front of the blonde genin. "But remember this boy, heroes only end up dead," he sneered as he pulled that massive zanbatou off his back. "And you, you are not even a ninja…" before he could continue, the blonde charged at him once more, not only surprising the clone, but his teammates as well as his sensei.

"Naruto!" screamed Sakura as soon as she saw her friend charging towards this dangerous ninja without any forethought of what might happen to him. Though she did not realize it yet, she had come to care for her teammate and friend a great deal in the short amount of time that she had known him, and his constant habit of putting himself in danger for his friends' sake only made him that much more…endearing?

Even if the assassin was caught off guard, his reflexes were toned to their highest capabilities and another kick sent the blonde sliding back once more. "Hey, you eyebrow less freak, put this in your bingo book," the young jinchuuriki said hoarsely as he put back the headband that Zabuza had knocked off his forehead the first time he had kicked the blonde. "The man that will one day become the Hokage of Konohagakure," a grin stretched on his face as he lifted his head and his sparkly eyes met the black pupils of Zabuza and he pulled the final knot on his forehead protector. "Uzumaki Naruto!" with this, his hands blurred as he ran through hand seals at the speed that even surprised the missing Nin, and before the clone could even react, it was cut in half, and to Zabuza it did not even look like the kid had put any effort in doing so.

**Hey guys, sorry for the week late update, but if it is any consolation (I doubt it is) I was in Vegas for about six day. So anyway, finally Naruto is in Wave, and he is about to take on Zabuza! Yea, good stuff. As always ideas and opinions from readers are always welcome and if you would like to discuss the story in farther detail, just send me a quick P.M. Loved the reviews I got, so please keep them coming. Poll about Zabuza's sword still stands, though soon it will not. And please, please, please don't forget to review. **

**Thanks,**

**Tanneal. **


	11. The Need of a Hero

**The Need of a Hero **

Naruto kicked a stray pebble on his path as he walked on into the foggy night, his mind too full for him to rest as his team was instructed to by the team Seven's Jounin sensei. His thoughts were too occupied with the events that occurred earlier that day and he just couldn't shake off some of the things that were going through his mind. The fight with Zabuza, seeing the condition of Wave under the monopolistic economy because of Gatou, and finally meeting people like Tazuna's family brought too many emotions and questions within him to fall asleep anyway. This was the first time he had encountered shinobis outside the village of Konoha and both of these occasions the ninjas he had encountered had either tried to kill them or their client, and these constant thoughts always went back to the fight he had with the hired assassin from Mist.

**Flashback: **

"_You got spunk kid, I will give you that but…luck only works once," Zabuza said as he made another seal, once more a clone rose out of the water. "Try taking on my clone now," he said in a goading manner as his clone smiled behind the bandages that masked his face. Naruto had enough of this rogue thinking he was as mighty and he took off in a blur towards the clone, it was time he showed this Mist Assassin just what Konoha shinobis were made of. The clone that met the blonde in combat was more than a little surprised at the speed this young boy seemed to possess, not only that but the power behind his blows surpassed even full grown men, just who the hell was he fighting?_

_ The Rogue's clone and Naruto traded blows furiously, but neither could gain the upper hand, though Zabuza could feel that his clone would get overwhelmed if this continued for too long. Coming to a deadlock, both the combatants jumped away from each other before circling one another, trying to get an advantage that they did not have before. As the two circled each other, Zabuza tried to read the chakra signature of the boy. That usually gave away a lot about the potential and mindset of the opposing ninja and was a useful skill that most able shinobis possessed. Studying his opponent, it did not take long for the rogue to realize that this kid was no joke, unlike his teammates, this kid was different, more in control of his emotions and feelings, and more…deadly for it. _

"Yes,"_ thought Zabuza as a glint of malice entered his eyes. _"This is a real shinobi; he surely would have been something back in the time of the Bloody Mist! Perhaps he can replace Haku if—"_ he never got a chance to finish his train of thoughts before Naruto attacked his clone once more, this time holding nothing back as he unleashed a few high level combos he had learned from the Professor himself. He attacked the vitals with what appeared to be nearly reckless abandon, yet hidden precision, one of the results of Monkey Fist's feint style of fighting. The clone's defenses stood little chance and soon it melted out of existence, unable to maintain its form at the physical beating it took from the genin. "You know kid, I can keep making clones and you can keep beating them up, but there is one thing that you do not have and that is time." _

"_What are you talking about?" asked the blonde as he looked up to see Zabuza, still holding Kakashi in the water prison. _

"_Well, for one, your sensei here is going to die eventually as he runs out of breath, so unless you can do more than just beating my clones, you better do it now, but then who will protect that old man?" Zabuza gave a chuckle as three clones rose out of the water before heading towards him. Two of the clones launched themselves at Naruto while the last jumped high into the air, intending to vault over the blonde haired genin and reach Tazuna, the intended target. The young jinchuuriki's anger rose with each word that the assassin had said, and finally he reached it's apex when he heard that the rogue was not only killing his sensei but was also going for his friends, he had reached his limit. _

The blonde jinchuuriki shook his head slowly, but no matter what he tried, it was becoming increasingly hard not to brood or dwell on the events that had occurred in the late afternoon on their way to Tazuna's house. As Naruto had learned from Ibiki Morino, it was not healthy to dwell on unpleasant events, especially for a shinobi on the events that might have happened during his duty, but it was still hard not to think about the negativity that the job of shinobis seemed to represent. And whenever he thought of the fight, which now he couldn't seem to get out of his head, his mind always returned to the safety of his teammates and sensei, and both had been severely threatened this day. He had lost his control today, at seeing Kakashi there imprisoned in the water prison suffocating and suffering for breath. He had almost thrown caution out the window at the sight before him.

The blonde's teammates though were a completely different matter. Today, he had proved, whether willingly or not, that he was the only one in their group apart from Kakashi who even stood the slightest chance of beating Zabuza. Naruto felt his stomach curl at the thought, he was lucky to not get himself killed fighting the Assassin, but where did this situation leave his teammates? The strategy that the team had tried to form had not worked at all. With Kakashi's fall, their team was left completely defenseless, and if Zabuza had truly chosen to go after his teammates in order to take out Tazuna, they would have been as good as dead, whether Naruto tried or not, his win was through sheer surprise of skill and luck. Had the assassin not underestimated him to the degree he had and not taken the time to fight him and see just how much amusement he could gain from the genin, the Mist Swordsman would have easily succeeded in taking out Tazuna even with Naruto was on the field fighting him.

**Flashback:**

_With a roar, Naruto launched himself into the air as his hands seamlessly flew through a sequence of seals, and a simple blade of wind was all that was needed to decimate the clone that the rogue was planning to send after Sakura and Sasuke. But the blonde was far from done. As he landed back on the water's surface, he threw something at the clones, who now had their backs to him. As one of them turned, the clone's eyes widened as he saw a Fuma shuriken heading straight for him, but there was little else he could do, the shuriken's speed was aided by wind chakra, and before the nuke-nin's clone could react, the shuriken had shredded his face in half, making it burst into a splash of water. However, that did stop the other clone in his tracks as he turned to look at the blonde with even more interest that before. He was definitely not dealing with a common genin here, heck when he was a genin himself; even he did not know how to use elemental affinities with such proficiency like the blonde here was doing. A grin appeared on the clone's face as he slowly drew his Zanbatou before turning to face Naruto, and this time there was no mistaking that he intended to take the Nine-Tailed Fox container out._

"_You're different…" The doppelganger of the nuke-nin paused only a moment before it slashed the huge sword down at him. Naruto nimbly stepped forward and to the side of the attack, before he slashed the clone with a wind scalpel. The assassin's eyes narrowed as he saw what happened and rolled to the side, neatly avoiding the technique. Deciding to see just how good this Rogue's taijutsu was, Naruto charged straight at the clone but this time he was ready. Zabuza grinned maniacally under his bandages and lifted his sword, sweeping it around horizontally into the blonde's path. The speed of the attack was much greater than his usual vertical slash. Naruto pushed chakra into his feet and pushed with his legs as he leant his head down, forward flipping just over the blade and through Zabuza's guard. Now that the hard part was done, it was time for him to go on the offensive. The blonde flicked his arm across Zabuza's chest and ducked under the nuke-nin's right arm as the man brought the hilt back violently into the blonde's back. Naruto took the blow around his upper abdomen area. The genin ignored the pain and continued to run before he slid and turned, sending a spray of water up as he faced Zabuza once more. Even though the clone had been able to throw the genin off, he had not been able to avoid the blow that Naruto had landed on his chest, and even now it surprised him about the boy's telling strength._

_This time, the Mist Assassin's clone ran towards the blond who stood waiting, keeping his sweeping movement constricted, with the point of the blade down. He swept the massive blade across the space in front of him, only to see his opponent disappear altogether. Gathering his massive cleaver back to himself, the clone ran a trained eye around his surroundings, only to realize a little too late, that his cleaver had suddenly increased the weight by more than a hundred pounds. Whirling around, the clone's face met with a powerful kick, as Naruto jumped off the blade of Kubiriki Bocho and wielder tumbled off, reeling from his kick. Yet, still the blonde was not done, as he ran through hand seals and clone burst into droplets of water when its body was met with another wind blade. _

"_Damn gaki, where the hell does he keep pulling these techniques from?" wondered Zabuza as he continued to follow the blonde Konoha genin as he trashed all his water clones. "This is bad, he has taken all of my clones out, now he will come for me and I will have to let the copycat out!" Zabuza was trying to frantically think of a way out of this situation when his troubles just increased. It seemed like the other Konoha genin, the one wearing a dark blue shirt came forward with a Fuma shuriken poised to throw at him. "Damn, I hope you are ready Haku, I will really need to get out of this mess and the only one I have as back up is you." With that the Mist assassin got ready to take this fight to the next level. _

The fight had left Team Seven shaken. He knew that the only ones that came out of it mostly unfazed was Kakashi and Tazuna, and it made Naruto only feel worse that it had been him that had insisted that they continue, well Sakura had but he had backed her up. What worried the blonde the most though, was that their strategy had not worked…at all. He hated to think of it in such a pessimistic way but Sakura and Sasuke had come very close to dying and Kakashi had nearly been drowned. The team had discussed returning to Konoha, and he was sure that Tazuna had heard them because they were not even trying to be discreet at the time, but that option was…well not an option at all. After the fight between Zabuza and Kakashi, he was sure that the assassin would not be able to return for at least a few days, but that did not mean that his partner was not out there. Naruto knew that the one posing as Hunter-nin would let them pass, only in exchange for Tazuna's life, but then what? What would happen to the country and what of the people that still have no means of escaping this man called Gatou? The requirements for the mission have changed, obviously, but at least they were not completely unaware of it.

The builder had also pointed out that they were not in Fire country anymore, but in Wave, a country where everything was owned by the one person they were here to perform against. They had luckily found a way in, but getting off the island without getting on Gatou's radar would be about as hard as getting out of a snake's belly after being eaten alive. That also meant that any form of backup would be damn near impossible, and even if any did get on the island, they would be facing the same situation as Team Seven. This Gatou the businessman's men were everywhere; some were out in the open and obeying his orders with bravado while others stayed in plain sight and worked for him from the shadows. Every member of Team Seven had too much pride to allow that type of shame; to simply step aside while their client was butchered like a pig because the task at hand was too hard.

Shinobis would rather choose to die by impaling themselves on their own sword for far less. When it came down to the hard nut of the issue, failure was not an option. One bad move was all it took for a ranked shinobi, who fought and bled alongside peers and companions, to permanent border patrol in some unknown part of Fire country. And if a woman, Naruto's immediate thoughts went out for his dear sensei and older-sister figure Kurenai Yuuhi, managed to escape a high priority mission with her life; the shinobi would be lucky to escape a long-term mission helping rid Fire country of its many illegal brothels and human trafficking organizations. If it really came down to it, Tazuna would either complete the bridge, or they would all die trying. When you are a ninja with nothing to lose, there wasn't much you had to give besides your word.

There is a saying back in Konoha, one the Jiji had actually made up years back that was carved into the memorial stone. "Embrace your dreams. And, whatever happens, protect your honor as a Konoha shinobi!" It was a bit morbid when you considered where the quote had been carved, but that was the life of a ninja. Naruto thought he knew the Sandaime Hokage well enough, and he wouldn't put it past the man doing something that devious to scare away the ones not cut-out to be ninja, but he also knew it had a deeper meaning. You live for the village and you die for the village; when you bleed, so does the village. The young jinchuuriki was sure that the quote had kept many a ninja from wasting their lives away in sorrow or abandoning Konoha altogether. Because when the Hokage called on you and said the grand-child of some minor lord had to die so Konoha could inherit a piece of land and keep enemy forces out of the Leaf's blind-spot, you didn't say no, you did your duty and you shoved your own personal code of honor in the name of your village. And when your time came to move on, and you had already faded to dust, your name would sit on that monument and all of the dreams you once had would live on in the current generation of Shinobi serving Konoha.

When the old bridge-builder had called out that they will get to their destination soon, it was about as pleasant news as they could hope to get at the time. It wasn't cold, but there was an unpleasant chill in the air that only being inside could rid a person of. The kind of chill that came with the knowledge of knowing silent and invisible protectors were watching you, always out of reach but only an arm's length away. Or those times in the wilderness when eyes hid behind bark and bushes, always watching and assessing, judging if you were to be their next meal and the risk was worth the reward to be. Naruto shuddered in mid-step along the forest path as he looked around once more; just to be sure he was alone. He could still feel the icy senbon with which the masked ninja had tried to attack him when he had decided to stop the person from taking Zabuza's body.

But Tazuna's home was nice, or at least as nice as he had expected it to be, a simple two-story structure with a decent view of the water, though that latter wasn't really saying much, given the surrounding area. Naruto wouldn't doubt Tazuna if the man said he built it himself, and said as much. Their client had rubbed his head sheepishly as he had proclaimed "You saw the bridge, kid. Here in Wave we take care of our own, whether that is problems or people." Naruto chose not to mention that he himself had brought Wave's problem to Konoha's doorstep and so far it had taken them all nearly their lives as an opening fee. As they made their way towards their client's house he added another bit of information about his life. "Just thought that I'd mention my daughter Tsunami and her son Inari," he admitted after a moment of silence. "She can be a handful at times but she's a good woman, real caring type, always worrying about everyone." His proud smile slipped momentarily and the replacement hastily plastered on was a fake one Naruto knew all too well. "My grandson Inari is a good kid, but he's been through a lot due to Gatou and his reign of terror. I just wanna apologize ahead of time if he says anything to offend you all."

Entering the house was by far the most exciting thing that had happened to them after their fight with Zabuza. As soon as Naruto had knocked on the door, it was opened by a woman, who very much reminded Naruto of his Aunt and just by the look of concern from her face he had realized just how tired he was. Before he realized even what was going on, his legs gave away and he toppled on top of the surprised woman, losing consciousness along the way. When Naruto had regained consciousness, he had woken up to find himself in a well furnished but modest sized room. A bunk bed was set in the corner and he was in the lower one while the upper one contained the backpack that Sasuke had with him when they were travelling. He suddenly blushed as he remembered what had occurred just after he had reached Tazuna's house and decided he would apologize to the woman as soon as he saw her again. He sat up slowly, and as the covers fell away, he noticed that his shirt was missing. Looking down, he realized that the small abrasions and cuts that he had received while fighting the assassin had been treated and the longer gash that he had received across his chest was bandaged, and by the looks of it, by an adept person that handled treating small wounds very often.

Looking around, his eyes fell upon his jacket, that was neatly folded and laid on the floor across the room and next to it sat his boots, storage scrolls, and Konoha head-band. Getting up slowly, the blonde took one of the scrolls from the floor and laid it on the bed before making a quick hand seal to open the storage. Quickly deciding what he would need to wear, he pulled out a black muscle shirt and two rolls of white wrappings. Pulling on his muscle shirt, he went downstairs as he wrapped both his arms in the wrapping cloth about half-way up his forearms. As he went down the stairs, he realized that he had not been unconscious for as long as he had thought. It had only been an hour or so because dim sunlight was still filtering through the windows, but what did surprise him was the fact that it seemed the woman, Tazuna's daughter, had been hard at work as she was placing dish after dish filled with food on the dining table. Kakashi and Tazuna looked like they were having an intense discussion over some sake, while Sakura was helping Tsunami anywhere she could. Looking around, he realized that only his other teammate was nowhere in sight.

"I hope you are feeling better," said Kakashi from his spot even though Naruto was standing directly behind him, and there was no way he could have seen the blonde coming down the stairs, but ninjas had a few more accessories at their disposal than just the five senses that humans were normally born with.

"Yeah, it was a temporary paralysis that the hunter shinobi hit me with," replied the blonde as Tazuna looked up and gave him a small smile.

"You gave my daughter quite the scare when you fainted on her. She thought it was somehow her fault when she realized that right after looking at her you lost consciousness," said the old man with a chuckle as Naruto face flushed a light shade of red. The blue-eyed boy nodded before looking back.

"Yeah, I need to apologize to her for that," Naruto muttered as he rubbed the back of his head.

"You don't need to do that Naruto-san, I realized that it was because you were attacked and I thank you very much for putting yourself in danger to save my father's life and help the people of this village," said the dark haired woman he remembered as she placed another bowl on the table before turning to him and giving him a very deep and gratitude filled bow.

"Umm…" muttered Naruto not sure what to say in return, he had never had such kind of respect from the people in his own village and neither had he expected something of this sort to happen.

"Oh there is no need for such formalities Tsunami-san, we are here because it is our duty," said Kakashi, coming to Naruto's rescue. As he got up, the blonde instantly noticed the severe limp he had along with the large amount of bandages tied around his left leg.

"Can you call in that other boy now, I think you all should have a warm dinner tonight," said Tsunami as she indicated towards the open door and Naruto nodded.

"I will call him in, we need to have a talk anyway," he said as he went out the door. He did not need to look to know that Sasuke was on the roof. He quickly jumped on as he landed a couple feet behind Sasuke.

"So will you care to fill us in or were you intending to keep this a secret from all of us?" asked Sasuke, he was obviously angry about something because Naruto could tell by the tautness of his shoulders that he was clearly quite displeased because of Naruto. It did not take a genius to know what the raven haired boy was pissed off about.

"Look Sasuke, it is not my fault if you underestimated my abilities to the degree that you think I intentionally lied about it, but you know as well as I do that I have not been around you or Sakura long enough to know the full extent of my abilities but—" he was interrupted as Sasuke whirled towards him gave him a classic scowl.

"Underestimated your abilities does not even come close to what I thought!" he said as his voice went up with every word. "What you did, not even the best of genins are capable of. I thought I was the best in the academy but you…you failed the damn test but right now you are the only one other than Kakashi-sensei who could even stand a chance against Zabuza, a ninja whose notoriety is legendary. How do you explain that?" Naruto sight, had he really thought he could get away from Sasuke's radar after actually fighting all out in front of him as openly as he had? Well he still had to try, because raising questions about his true past could not only put him, but Jiji and the council in jeopardy too.

"Okay, yes I did hide my true abilities from you to a degree, but that does not mean I am even close to Kakashi's level, and trust me, the fight with Zabuza was a fluke because you do not even realize how lucky I got. If that assassin had not underestimated me to the degree that he had, I would have been dead before even a minute in the fight." Naruto said, hoping that his teammate would at least believe some of his lies; he knew full well that it was still not time to reveal to them what he really was, but building a small foundation from now would only lessen their pains when they truly realized why he was so different from them.

"Fluke? You call yourself destroying that many of the assassin's clones a fluke? Explain what you mean!" demanded the Uchiha as the scowl on his face only deepened.

"Yes, it was a fluke because Zabuza was not expecting me to be able to do all the things that I was capable of. For example, me using wind affinity techniques, and my Tai jutsu being above average. In fact I can go even as far as to say that you would have been able to do all the things I did too. You also have your fire element techniques, not to mention that you know all the basics of the Uchiha hand-to-hand style," said Naruto, trying to sound as confident as possible. He knew that in doing so, he was only adding fuel to the already burning ego Sasuke possessed, but at the moment it was necessary if he was to maintain his secret.

"So, did Kakashi tell you yet?" asked Sasuke, and Naruto blinked at the sudden change in topic.

"Tell me what?"

"His theory about that Hunter-nin not really being a Mist ninja but an accomplice to Zabuza, and that he believes that the missing-nin is still alive and will probably be back in a week or so," replied the raven haired boy in a grim tone. Naruto nodded, saying Kakashi had, but truthfully he did not need to hear it from their sensei to figure as much out. That Hunter-nin…there was something about that guy.

**Flashback:**

_ Sasuke saw his opportunity and did not hesitate as he threw the Fuma Shuriken at the figure of Zabuza, still holding Kakashi in his water prison. The missing-nin smirked; did the boy really think he can actually hit me with such a straight forward attack? He looked at the blonde one and his eyes widened. His hands were formed in a seal, and he was channeling quite a bit of chakra on his next attack, this one he better watch out. Zabuza caught it, just as the shuriken reached him, making the assassin turn away a little as head to absorb the full momentum of the heavy shuriken with only a dingle hand. That was all the time Naruto needed. Just as Zabuza landed back in the water, he realized something was off, though everything appeared exactly the same, except for one small difference. There was a clone standing next to the pink haired teammate of the blonde he had been fighting. _

"_Sasuke, cover me," said Naruto just before he unleashed his wind jutsus that he had been building up. "Wind Release: One with the wind!" shouted Naruto as Zabuza's eyes widened, an A-ranked technique! This genin had just used an A-ranked technique, what the hell was this kid! But Zabuza thoughts cut off as he heard another whisper coming from the rapidly approaching genin. "Wind Release: Wind Blade," Zabuza was barely able to stifle the curse that would have escaped him had he not understood the urgency of his situation. First the gaki used a technique that allowed him to literally travel as fast as the wind itself, a very useful technique in combat situation since Sushin would not have allowed him to activate another technique while he was moving in that technique's process. But what surprised Zabuza the most was that not only had this blonde had pulled off two A-ranked wind elemental techniques, but the genin had so much control over them that he had pulled off one while he was using the other! Only shinobis with an extremely high level of elemental chakra mastery could even pull that kind of feat off, much less actually perform it as successfully as this kid had in a real battle situation._

"_Speaking of success," thought the Kiri Missing-Nin as he looked down at the deep gash that the Konoha genin had been able to inflict, which still surprised him as to how the boy had been able to land the attack? He had moved away from the water prison in exactly the small amount of window that was available after Naruto had started to move towards Zabuza. He was sure he had dodged all the shurikens that the black-haired teammate of the blonde had thrown, just before the orange wearing genin had attacked himself. So, his question still remained, how the hell had the gaki been able to land that attack if his evasion had been performed so accurately?_

_That was when the ex-Swordsman of the Mist felt like punching himself in the gut. How had he missed such an obvious sign? That other teammate of his, with that absurdly pink hair, she must have done something as well, and the only solution he could come up with was "Genjutsu, well played," thought Zabuza as he glanced back the blonde gaki as he stood there with a small smirk on his face. "Kai!" he said as he did a simple hand seal and all the distortion that his senses had been under disappeared. "Enough games," though Zabuza as he started spinning the Fuma that was still clutched in his hand. "Damn brat dies now," he said as he moved his arm back before coming forward, he would at least take care of the blonde before his next encounter with the Konoha group and finally kill that bridge-builder. His plans came to a short-stop as the shuriken was blocked before it even had the chance to leave his arm. Copy-cat Kakashi was back in the game._

"_Good plan guys, and well done Sakura. I am very impressed with your ability to cast a layered genjutsu on Zabuza without him even realizing he was in one. _

"_Thanks Kakashi sensei!" shouted the pink haired kunoichi as she waved her hands making Naruto grin and even Sasuke cracked a smile. _

"_Heh, I got distracted and released the technique…" muttered the swordsman as he tried to cover his surprise with disdain while regaining his composure._

"_Wrong," cut in Kakashi's voice as he turned back to look at the missing-nin with a stony look. "You were 'forced' to release the technique."_

_ Kakashi's entrance back into the action had pretty much decided the fate of the match, and while Zabuza knew that he had another ace left in his sleeve, he was quite sure that this fight was over. "Yet, it would not hurt to truly realize what this man is capable of," thought the ex-Swordsman of the mist as he leapt away from the silver-haired Jounin and started running through hand-seals and was not surprised when he saw his opponent running through the exact same seals with just as much speed, ease, and accuracy. The Konoha Jounin grinned under his mask as he thought this would be a good time to play a psychological game with the missing-nin, after all he knew techniques from all elements, and water was an element of which he knew the most techniques. Taking this chance was risky because of he got caught, only his credibility would be questioned, but if it worked, then it could mean the difference between winning and losing this fight. The Konoha Jounin sped up the rate at which he was running through the hand seals, and smirked as he saw Zabuza's eyes grow wide when they both shouted simultaneously "Water Style: Water Dragon technique!" _

_ The dragon rose out of the water at the same time, except the one rising behind the masked shinobi rose just a moment before the water dragon rising behind the missing-nin from Mist. And Kakashi had intended it that way because he was sure that Zabuza, no matter how small a difference in timing, would notice it and he had intentionally finished his hand seals just a tad bit before he knew his opponent would. The two dragons clashed against each other and spray of water showered and splashed as they struggle against each other before the dragons exploded and landed back in the lake it. The assassin did not wait for the dragons to fall back completely as he rushed at Kakashi, sword leading the way, but it seemed as if the Konoha Jounin already knew as he raised his kunai, almost lazily and blocked his zanbatou._

"_Strange, what is going on?" wondered the missing-nin as he jumped back from his opponent, putting some difference between himself and the copy-cat. "Is he reading my moves?" Zabuza thought as he scrutinized the man in front of him with a critical eye. Even if he had the Sharingan, it could copy a technique only after he himself had performed the technique, not at the same time and definitely not before he himself finished doing the technique himself! "Is he reading my mind? Damn, that freaky eye is pissing me off!" thought the assassin as he slowly did a seal and raised his hand, and was mimicked by his opponent simultaneously, he was not copying he was doing them as if he knew what Zabuza's next move was going to be. "Heh, all you are doing is copying me," shrieked the zanbatou wielding shinobi, almost as if denying what he was seeing to himself, before forcing himself to run through hand seals once more. "You can't beat me you monkey bastard!"_

_ Kakashi could not help by smirk slightly, his plan was working. Zabuza was losing his cool, soon enough a simple genjutsu was all that was needed to make the assassin completely believe the ploy that the silver haired ninja was trying to play. "Damn, I will make it so that can never open that mouth of yours again!" Kakashi heard his opponent shout before stopping abruptly, his eyes grew wide and he froze. Kakashi could see the sweat dripping down the side of his face even from fifteen feet away where he was standing. _

"_That…that is…me? That's not possible!" Zabuza's thoughts were interrupted when he heard his opponent speak. _

"_Water explosion technique," said Kakashi in a calm and even voice, no hesitation was there as he uttered the name of the jutsu he was using. _

_Zabuza looked down at his hands and gasped, he hadn't even finished running through the hand seals, what was going on? How did the copy-cat know what technique he was going to use even before he had finished running through the hand seals? Zabuza looked back up at Kakashi and saw the black tomes that were placed evenly around the pupil starting to spin, they slowly gained speed until they were nothing more than a blur. The lake exploded. Zabuza was thrown violently around as he landed once more on the leg, but this time the strain of the fight was showing clearly on his face. He shakily stood up only to hear something coming from behind him and felt the sharp and cold point of a kunai resting against an artery on his neck. _

"_It's over," said Kakashi in a dead serious voice as a shiver ran down the missing-nin's spine. The ex-Mist ninja slowly turned around until his eye met Kakashi's._

"_How…can you see the future?"_

"_Yeah…you are going to die."Even Kakashi was surprised when two senbon needles buried themselves on Zabuza's neck, and the force of them threw the missing ninja out of Kakashi's grasp and onto the land near the lake._

"_Hehe, you are right he is dead," came the voice of a boy, a young man maybe a year or so older than Naruto. Kakashi thought as his head whipped around to see a mask wearing shinobi standing calmly on the branch of a tree. The markings on his mask showed that he was actually a Hunter-nin from the Village hidden in the Mists. Naruto saw his teammates tense at the new arrival and could not blame them. Even though this boy appeared to be on their side, he was subtly leaking a little bit of killer intent, enough that people will be weary of him, but not that much that people will turn tail and run. Kakashi sushined from his place on the lake to where Zabuza's body had landed and checked for the missing-nin's pulse. There weren't any, Zabuza was really dead? The flow of killer intent suddenly stopped as the masked ninja jumped down from the tree before bowing to them. _

"_Thank you very much," he said, and surprisingly in a very humble voice. "I have been searching for the opportunity to kill Zabuza for a long time."_

"_So you are a Hunter-nin from Mist?" asked Kakashi and got a nod. _

"_Yes," he replied. "It is my duty to hunt down missing shinobis as I am a member of Hidden Mists' Hunter-Nin squad."_

"_By the sound and height of this kid, he is not much older than Naruto and claims to be a Hunter-nin? Impressive but…he is not a normal kid," Kakashi's train of thoughts was interrupted when Naruto walked in between Zabuza's body and the Hunter ninja. _

"_Why did you kill him?" asked the blonde, his voice was low, and had a sinister quality to it that Kakashi recognized immediately. Naruto was very angry. The hunter-nin cocked his head to one side as he seemed to be contemplating what the blonde meant._

"_It is my job," he replied after a while. _

"_I know that, but what I mean is he did not get a trial or even got a chance to explain his part of the story! Where d the justice in that, I thought Hunter-Nins were the noble ones, going after deserters to bring them to justice, not to slaughter them without understanding the reasons behind them deserting their own village. How can you do that?" said Naruto as he looked on angrily at the masked shinobi standing in front of him._

"_Naruto, this is not a matter that concerns us, leave him to do his job," ordered Kakashi in a stern voice as he placed his hand firmly on the jinchuuriki's shoulder. _

"_But Kakashi-sensei—" Naruto started to say as he looked up at the Jounin but stopped when he saw the man shaking his head. This was a personal matter of another village and those interfering in it would only show them as the bad guys here. _

"_The battle is over for now. I must take this body with me; it seems to hold too many secrets. Farewell," said the Hunter-nin before vanishing in a puff of mist. _

Naruto slowed his steps as he came to a halt beside a solid oak tree. Zabuza was coming for a second round, and this time he would be ready, and he will probably also be bringing that fake hunter-nin with him too. He knew that squad seven was not ready to handle a threat of this caliber yet, but asking for help was a not a choice either. Then he remembered Tazuna, his daughter Tsunami, and even that little kid Inari and sighed. The dinner was just another fiasco, and he had made a big deal of it because he lost his temper on that poor kid. Now that he thought about it, he supposed that even though the kid needed to hear what he had said, it could have been a little nicer way to put it to him.

As the blonde had returned to the house with Sasuke and had sat down at the dining table with Sakura, Tazuna, Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke, and of course Tsunami, another young member had joined them, who was promptly introduced to the newcomers as Inari, Tazuna's grandson. They boy was around seven or eight years old and was wearing a worn out hat. He was also wearing white t-shirt underneath a dark green vest that ended at his knees, like shorts.

"Welcome back grandpa," he said in a dead voice before he crawled onto the chair across from Naruto and waited patiently for his mother to serve him dinner. Naruto was more than stunned; he was a little curious and quite a bit worried. This kid seemed completely devoid of life, he had seen more life in a dying squirrel than in this boy, heck even Shino showed more emotion than this kid did, and that was saying something since the Aburames intentionally tended to hide all emotions from their expressions and body language. As Tsunami got to the table, the boy looked at her mother for a moment before asking "Mom, why are they here, they are going to end up dying anyway." Naruto was taken aback, and not because of the boy's comment, but because of the casual and careless way that he addressed the guests in his house and how he seemed like he could care less that these people could die trying to save _his_ own village.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT!" shouted Sakura as she jumped up from her seat; she seemed ready to pummel that kid until he was nothing more than a smudge on the floor.

"There is no way you can win against Gatou," he murmured and in that same emotionless voice.

"You brat, I will…" Sakura stopped bawling as she felt a firm and restraining hand placed on her shoulder by her blonde teammate, she looked back to see him looking at Inari with something akin to…sympathy?

"Hey Inari, listen! I am a super hero who will one day become an incredible ninja called Hokage! I don't know who this Gatou guy is, but he's nothing compared to me!" shouted Naruto as he extended his fist towards Inari and gave him a lopsided grin.

"Pft," Inari looked up as he set his stoic expression-less on Naruto once more. "What are you, stupid? There's no such thing as a hero."

"WHAT?" shouted Sakura and Naruto simultaneously, the blonde could not believe a kid could be so averse to optimistic feelings. In fact is he had to describe someone as the polar opposite of Inari, it would have to be someone he considered his own younger brother, Konohamaru. Inari slowly walked up to the door that led out to his backyard before looking back the genins one more time. "If you don't want to die, you should leave," with that he slowly opened the door and headed out.

"Where are you going kid?" asked Tazuna from his place.

"To take a look at the ocean," came the faint reply of the hat wearing boy's voice.

Naruto turned to look at Tsunami and saw her flinch a little when the door closed behind her son. He had purposely the woman until now, who was kind enough to treat his wounds, and provided them with a warm meal and a comfortable roof over their heads. But if he looked at the situation at hand, he realized that for a person like Tsunami, who was still fairly young and quite good looking, a quick and pain-less death would be the best way for her to go with a man like Gatou after her family. One look at her was all the vile businessman would need for death to be the last thing on his mind and she probably knew it too. Just like being close to a ninja, you always feared that dreadful letter telling you he or she was never coming home. Sometimes your death even came first and it came hard, inflicting as much pain as possible on the one's that were left behind. He shut his mouth; he would need to see the kid for himself before he finally gave the boy his final judgment for what Inari truly was. A boy troubled and angered at his life because of situation that was completely out of control, or just a brat with little to no manners.

"Sorry," Tazuna started to say but Naruto was already on his feet and walking towards the boy before the bridge builder could even complete his apology for his grand-son's rude behavior to the guests.

"Darn it, where did that kid disappear off to," grumbled Naruto as he followed the boy outside. "He need to learn that…" the genin's trail of thoughts went cold as he heard low sniffling sounds coming from one of the higher benches where the kid sat. His back was to Naruto and his shoulders were shaking in a very familiar way. "Oh," muttered Naruto as he realized that Inari was crying. He quickly jumped onto the tree branch that was hanging a little above the kid's head and peered down. He was holding a picture of a man with a large grin on his face, he had a few very defining scars on his face and had a rope that was tied on his forehead very similar to the fashion in which Tazuna had worn when Naruto had first met the drunk bridge-builder. The young jinchuuriki looked down, he knew what it felt like to be all alone against the rest of the world, and shoved his hands in his pockets. He needed to clear his head, decided Naruto before jumping off the branch silently and making his way towards the forest that was a little ways behind the house.

As the genin walked along the forest trail, he let his thoughts wander. He'd been glad when they got the mission because not only was it of higher demand, but it also gave him a chance to finally see the world outside of Konoha's reach and taint, one where the opinion of Uzumaki Naruto had not been dragged through the mud. And now the world was turning out to be just like he'd come to see Konoha and not so pretty, after all. Along with his own blood, he felt just a little more innocence had been lost for them all, but now, it felt like the stranglehold on his hopes and dreams were slithering from around his own neck and tightening on Inari's like the passing of a baton. If anything, now he knew for sure that failing would mean the end of another country's hope and dreams and another corrupt man's ambitions being fulfilled. But this also gave him a sense of duty, like a meaning for his existence had just been created. Like maybe blood spilt, his or not, was actually worth it, no matter the quantity. Now…now the mission had a real purpose. They sure as hell weren't going to flee because of some missing-nin looking to cash a check and they weren't going to stay just because they had to. Inari…no, not just Inari, he corrected himself while gnawing at his lower-lip. Wave needed a hero and _they_ were going to fill that role.

Naruto stopped chewing on his lip and frowned, letting his flow of thoughts go deeper. He was a ninja, a young one at that, and perhaps the lines between good and evil had yet to be mixed completely, and he could still see the difference between what was right and wrong, and what was right for the village and what was wrong for the village, because there was a big difference there that some just could not handle. And that part of him buried deep down beneath hours of training and stunted by nasty looks and uglier words knew that this was it, the moment he had always been waiting for, the reason he became a ninja and the stuff dreams and legends were made out of. You ask a hundred academy students why they keep on coming rain, sleet or snow, training to be a tool for their village that will one day get them killed and you'll get different answers. Some want glory, some want power while others wish to stop being weak and some were even forced, but there will always be one that wanted to be a real hero; wanted to save the family they never got to know, maybe a princess or daimyo they will never get to meet, there will even be some real stupid ones who think they'd be good enough to save the old man if he ever got caught in a pinch by some traitorous missing-nin, and THAT was _his_ job!

On some level, maybe he wanted to be Hokage so he could save Konoha from itself. On some level, maybe he even wanted to thank all of the hateful villagers because due to them his spirit was never truly broken, falling away piece by piece while rebuilding itself stronger than before, whereas some, Sasuke came to mind before he could find another example, had their faith shattered in one single, abrupt moment, forever broken and never to return.

Who really knew? One man's trash was another man's treasure while one man's dreams were another's nightmare.

As Naruto walked, he could not help but feel like he owed Tazuna somehow and he would never be able to replay the man. In fact, he was sure that the old bridge-builder was thinking along the same lines and B-Rank pay or not, he would always be in debt of the Village hidden in the Leaves.

How did you repay someone that gave you the means to fulfill a dream, intentional or not?

Naruto assumed you did it the same way you thanked someone who took away your dream, intentional or not.

You did it to the best of your abilities and you made absolutely sure nobody could erase the mark left behind, the intent never in question.

His resolve only grew with each step.

If needed he would personally take up the task of removing Gatou's head from his shoulders if the man so much as looked at Tazuna and his family the wrong way, and if it came to it, he would learn how to build a bridge with his own two hands, and do so until he hands were no more because this was not just a bridge anymore, it was never really about just the bridge. Konoha had the Will of Fire and Iwa liked to say that they are as unbreakable as the rocks they so loved, but they were both wrong while at the same time right. You could put out a fire and you could crack a rock, the same way you could destroy a bridge. Only difference was you could rebuild that same bridge down to the last brick whereas that fire will never be the same nor will the rock. But sometimes perfection in rebuilding was probably not the answer, as scars healed only showed character. Maybe that was the beauty held by the Will of Fire; forever burning bright, illuminating the night with the eternal flames of Konoha's youth, generation after generation stoking the flames (wow he really was starting to think like Gai-sensei).

Wave, however, did not have the Will of Fire. They were a land that still needed to find theirs, and the bridge would be that pillar of hope, but just as the infant fire needed an ember and someone to tend it, the bridge needed protectors to help it reach a state of influence before change could happen. Once their pillar was complete, there would be no stopping the revolution that was bound to come and Gatou would be nothing more than a bad stain on that bridge. With resources came strength, and with strength there was always an uprising. Gatou knew this, but he seemed like the typical tyrant and Naruto got the feeling he was measuring every inch and centimeter that bridge gained, waiting for the right moment to swoop in and strike, crushing the bridge along with the hope of every Wave resident watching the events like a hawk. Maybe Gatou would even have the bridge completed to cement his victory; Naruto wouldn't put it past him.

They say that freedom always came with a price, and a high one at that. But Naruto realized it then and there that when the time came, by his doing or not, Gatou was going to pay for Wave's freedom with his life like all the tyrants had before him.

**Hello again people, you don't know how sorry I am for this extremely late update but what can I say, this chapter was giving me the mother of all writer's block! If it is any consolation, I made this chapter a little bit longer for you guys to enjoy **** So finally we get to see what Naruto thinks of this whole situation that he is finally in wave and has experienced firsthand what Gatou does to the people who intend to defy him. So next chapter we get to delve a little more into our favorite hero's conscience, and we will also see the schemes that Danzo is plotting now that the Chuunin exams are upon them and is going to be held in Konoha this year. Ooh, yes things are heating up and are it will only get more and more intense from this point on. As always ideas and opinions from readers are always welcome and if you would like to discuss the story in farther detail, just send me a quick P.M. Loved the reviews I got, so please keep them coming. Poll about Zabuza's sword has been concluded, so stay tuned to see what happens next. And please, please, please don't forget to review. Special thanks to people who started to follow and favorited this story after the last chapter was posted and if you are one of them please send me a P.M. or a review to let me know what you think. **

**Thanks,**

**Tanneal**


	12. Old Men's Conspiracies

**Old Men's Conspiracies**

Kakashi stood up slowly as he looked at the silent family of Tazuna sitting at the table with looks of worry and anxiety painted clearly on their faces. He needed to find Naruto and at least talk to him about the plan needed for the future but he just couldn't leave the house and the family alone, they were far too vulnerable without his immediate presence in the vicinity...at least for now.

"Sakura, I want you to keep an eye on everyone in the house, including Inari. Sasuke, come with me," he ordered as he walked out, still with a visible limp, the front door followed by his silent student.

"Hai," he heard Sakura's voice before she hurried out the house from another exit in search of the youngest member of Tazuna's family.

"I want to you to keep a perimeter-wise patrol of the house until I return, I will leave a clone behind in case there is immediate need of me. Can you do that?" the Jounin asked as he gave a very severe look to the raven haired boy. He knew that asking a Genin for a patrol duty in hostile territory was not the best idea but he was lacking in resources right now and Sasuke's skill was undeniably above an average Genin's, so for now it would have to do.

"Yes, I can keep a patrol," replied the Uchiha with a nod before he took to the trees without hesitation.

"Hmm, maybe I will instate him to the ANBU program after he becomes a Chuunin. It won't be too difficult for him considering his personality," mused the Jounin before making a shadow-clone of himself. "Now where is that blonde student of mine?" he thought before taking to the forest trail. It was clear that his student had taken the precautions to omit as much of his tracks as possible, but to his expert eye it wasn't that hard to discern. "Now that I think about it, Naruto has come quite far in the black ops field. If only I could do something about Sakura then Team Seven could become a special operations squad, and with my experience and a bit more training on their part, I could take Naruto's, Sasuke's, and Sakura's careers very far." The ex-ANBU operative's thoughts cut short as he heard loud thumping noises coming from a little ahead. The Jounin sighed, this was one of Naruto's oldest habits. Whenever he gets frustrated, he takes it out through tai-jutsu, mainly against his sparring partners, but occasionally, when he found no one, he also did it in his old training area located at the Forest of Death or using dummies on abandoned training fields. It was his way to take out the anger or anguish before going about resolving the issue with a level headed and methodical manner.

Kakashi's eyes widened when he heard a loud crack and quickened his pace. He landed just as Naruto seemed to have uprooted the tree he was venting against, and it's descent was directly headed towards where the Jounin had landed. The cycloptic Jounin sighed again as he lifted his hand, almost lazily, and caught the tree halting it fall completely as he turned his head to look at his student with a critical eye.

"Ha Kakashi-sensei, it doesn't work when the person you are trying to show off to knows about chakra and how it can enhance your strength," said Naruto in an amused voice making his squad leader shrug and drop the tree to the side.

"Can't hurt to try," he muttered making his student chuckle, which made the silver haired man to raise an eye-brow. Since when did Naruto start acting like an old man rather than the exuberant and spirited boy that he knew? "What are you thinking?" he asked, being as blunt as he could, he always was this blunt when it came to the blonde, because they both knew there was very little either could hide from the other effectively, especially since Naruto started training under Kakashi, he could almost read his teacher like a book...almost.

"I was just thinking about some of the things that...he said and it seems that no matter how much I did not want to believe it, his words are all turning out to be true. It just makes me feel that somehow no matter how much I try, there is nothing I can do to change how the world of Shinobi functions," replied the blonde in an imploring manner, almost hoping that his teacher would have an answer to his dilemma even though he knew that the Jounin did not.

"Naruto, did you truly believe that the man known as 'The Professor', the person who has been an active Shinobi of Konohagakure for the last six decades, and been a Kage of a major military village for more than three decades, would be wrong about the principles on which the Shinobi system is based on?" asked Kakashi in a calm tone as he tried to make Naruto understand that the sooner he accepted this harsh truth, the better he would be able to cope with his feelings. His student lowered his head as he stared at the ground while contemplating about what he had just been told before taking a deep sigh and looking towards the Jounin.

"I guess you are right Kakashi Sensei," he replied. "But is it at all possible that this can change?"

"Change the ways of the Shinobi? Do you even realize what you are thinking about? Naruto this system has existed from the time even before the Hidden Villages formed, and you know it from all the History that you have been reading. Before the villages, clans showed their strength through their powers in combat and the top tier was made up of the Senju and the Uchiha. Why do you think that Konohagakure is still regarded as the strongest among the Hidden Villages even after nearly a century after it was founded? And you are thinking about changing the system that has been ingrained in the minds and roots of the people of the elemental nations for generations? I don't know if it is possible, but to make this change happen, something truly miraculous is needed, that much we both know," responded silver haired man as he tried to comprehend what his student was thinking about. The scale at which the Genin's thoughts ran was much wider than he had ever hoped to imagine or think about but his student's words made the Jounin see that if change was to happen, Naruto would definitely be in the thick of it all.

"I see," was all the response that he got as the duo settled in another long silence before Kakashi decided to ask Naruto the question he was here for.

"So what is the next step for us in this?" asked the silver haired Shinobi with a sigh as he looked at his student expectantly.

"Well, logically, this situation calls for a back up team but I don't know if that is what we should do in our current situation," responded Naruto as he thought about what Gatou might do, what extent the businessman would go to ensure that the Konoha ninja fail? The man had no shortage of money, but if he were to hire a few more Shinobi of Zabuza's caliber, then they would need a platoon of ANBU to handle the mess here. Something that he was sure Konoha would not dispatch unless Wave decided to pay for an A to S-ranking mission.

"What makes you think that another team would not be beneficial to us?" asked Kakashi curiously, he of course had come to the same conclusion as Naruto had, but he wanted to confirm how the blonde thought. That assessment alone could show Team Seven's captain whether or not his student had the capacity to deduce a situation correctly and take the measures to not only ensure the success of the mission but to see if they could get out of the situation with as little casualty as possible.

"Well another team will obviously be beneficial to us, but not to the overall situation," replied the blonde. "If more of us show up, it will only show this Gatou that we Konoha Shinobi are determined to finish this mission. That will only instigate him to hire more ninjas, and let's say he bring three to four more like Zabuza, how do you think two Genin Teams will hold up against that?"

"Hmm," said the ex-ANBU commander with a thoughtful pose. Naruto had come to the conclusion that he had, and while he was not surprised at the boy's ability to deduce the situation he was still surprised with the foresight. "Let's assume that we do get another team in and we are only still facing just Zabuza?" questioned the Jounin, now just seeing how much Naruto could calculate a circumstance and take the appropriate action.

"Considering we are still only fight Zabuza and his partner that was posing as the Hunter-nin, Team Eight," Naruto answered quickly, too quickly.

"Why not Team Ten, or Team Gai?"

"Well Team Gai would be overkill, seriously you and Gai sensei is way too much for even Zabuza to handle alone, and Lee or Neji alone could handle that Hunter-nin. Along with Tenten's support it is a sure win. As for Team Ten...well I don't believe they are ready for a mission like this. Not yet anyway."

"And Team Eight is? Naruto I know you well enough to know that you have already deduced that, as far as team dynamics go, Team Gai is in the lead followed by Team Eight and Team Ten, and then finally Team Seven. So what is the real reason?" Kakashi, to put it mildly, was quite surprised with his student's answer. Never before had he seen the blonde take a decision on things like this where he had turned out anything but wrong. These kinds of tactical calculations came to Naruto like hunting came to a lion. It was one of the things that made Sandaime Hokage one of the best strategist in all the Elemental Nations, and what made the Sannin some of the most feared Shinobi in the world. A trait that Naruto had also gained because of his tutelage under 'the Professor' himself!

"I don't know what's wrong with me but something is," Naruto said in a low and thoughtful voice as he turned to look at his sensei for guidance. "I don't know what is going on but every time I picture...Ino-chan coming here and possibly ending up in this Gatou's hands something happens. I feel fear like I haven't felt before, what is going on?" Kakashi got one good look at the blonde's face before finding himself feeling hard to decide whether to laugh at this or cry over it. His student had fallen, or at least have started to, fall in love. And with a clan heir no less! He couldn't help but chuckle at Naruto's distressed look, and he couldn't wait to tell it to all the people that he knew his student considered precious. But then another thought struck him, he was sure he had seen Naruto look at Sakura much the way that he remembered his old teammate, Obito, looked at his other teammate, Rin.

"Naruto tell me something, what do you feel when you think of Sakura in the same situation. Don't think ju-" his words died in his throat as the killer intent from Naruto just spiked, he had never felt the blonde give off such an enormous amount of killer intent before...ever. The air was literally thrumming with power and the blonde was glaring at the ground like he was about to rip the earth to shreds.

"Oh boy," thought Kakashi as he looked at his student with new respect and a little fear. It was never to be doubted that if anybody were to even think of harming the people that Naruto cared for would be met with a vicious fight from the blonde, a fight they would never forget in their lives. But this...this was something he had never foreseen and frankly it was also something that he was not sure that the young Jinchuuriki was even capable of. The killer-intent he was feeling was surprisingly close to what he sometimes felt when he was in the presence of a positively enraged Hiruzen Sarutobi. To see his student exude an amount of intent capable of cowing a Jounin of Kakashi's own caliber? The Jounin really needed to recalculate his estimation of the boy's abilities, and he would also need to let the Hokage know as soon as possible that Naruto be given the status of Chuunin, there was no need for an exam after witnessing something like this. "You feel better?" he asked as he sensed the killer intent slowly recede after what felt like several minutes. The blonde nodded. "Naruto, Tazuna will be needing protection tomorrow while he continues working on the bridge," at this Naruto's head snapped towards the Jounin.

"Kakashi sensei, tomorrow is absolutely the worst day for Tazuna-san to be working on the bridge," the blonde said as if it was the most normal thing in the world for Kakashi to deduce.

"What makes you say that?" asked the Jounin in a curious voice, the faster Tazuna got done with the bridge, the sooner their mission would be over.

"Do you not think that Gatou would have realized by now that you have defeated Zabuza, if he knows that then he would also know that we are at our weakest after our fight with the Mist-Nin just yesterday. As a result he will either plan an assassination for Tazuna-san or will have some sort of plan to completely destroy the bridge. In both cases we will be risking our client's life by sending him to the area where he will be expected the most. I think it will be the safest for Tazuna-san to not start working on the bridge until the day after tomorrow. In the mean time, you can start on training my teammates on something advanced. Maybe give them a few new techniques to match that guy posing as the Hunter-Nin. He was strong but not that much stronger than us."

"You have a point but what about you?"

"I will return tomorrow, sometime in the afternoon. For now I will just train and try to work out my thoughts. I hope tonight will be enough." At this the Jounin nodded before taking to the tree-tops once more.

_KONOHAGAKURE_

Danzo Shimura, currently the Administrator of the Defense of Konoha, was getting more and more agitated with the Hokage dodging his questions expertly by bombarding the man with the need of reports of various issues and situations that he was already aware of. But this time the War-Hawk was determined to get some answers from his old comrade and all time rival. "Hiruzen, stop trying to change the subject and come to the point," he interrupted in his perpetual monotonous voice stopping the other occupant in the room mid-sentence.

"Hmm, what do you mean Danzo?" he asked feigning innocence, as if he knew not a thing about what Danzo wanted to know. Hiruzen had at one time been a friend that Danzo had never hoped to gain, but as the years passed, the distance between them grew, and it grew to the point where they couldn't stand each other and being in the presence of the other seemed to grate on their nerves. When did that happen, neither knew but they both knew it started when their sensei, the Nidaime Hokage at the time, chose Hiruzen to be his successor instead of the more rebellious Danzo.

"I meant about the reason of putting the Jinchuuriki with the last Uchiha. We both know from their psyche evaluations that their personalities are nearly polar opposite of each other. So why have you put the Uzumaki with the Uchiha? It is bound to cause clashes between the two," the old war hawk nearly growled as he repeated his earlier asked question once more.

"Danzo, tell me something, do you know either of the boys personally?" asked Sarutobi as he found no other way to go around Danzo's bluntness other than completely disregarding him.

"No, but that hardly applies to the given situation," replied the cane wielding man a little stiffly.

"Danzo, we both know that applies in this situation," said Sarutobi pointedly before he continued. "And I know Naruto quite well, after all I have been constantly around the boy since he was five till the day he started attending the academy, and if there is one thing I can say about him without a doubt is that he is compassionate. A kind of person who can win over even the cruelest of hearts, and Sasuke is but a cocoon of loneliness. All Naruto has to do is draw his teammate out of the shell and as our sensei, Hashirama-sama, put it 'Compassion and kindness is the only way to win over the enemy's heart'."

"And look where that landed him," thought Danzo darkly before speaking once again. "Yes, I understand that you have the utmost faith in your apprentice but that Uchiha is a wild card, and compromising his status just because of your beliefs would be foolish," Danzo's retort held some merit but he also knew that he was talking about the 'God of Shinobi', and being anything but civil would only land him somewhere he did not want to go.

"Danzo, Naruto's compassion might be his strength, but that does not mean the boy does not know when to apply pressure and when to end a threat should the need arise. Do not forget, he has received training from me and that means he has learned from me ways that we were taught," he noticed when the uncovered eye of his old comrade grew wide in surprise and comprehension. "Yes," said the Sandaime as he nodded at the person sitting across from him. "I have taught him the old ways, and the led him to understand and follow the principles of an honorable Shinobi. Do you remember the three step process that we used in any mission? First, always consider the mission, then your companions, and finally yourselves. I have ingrained this process of thinking into Naruto just as it was drilled into me and you when we were young. I know these methods are not used in this day and age, in fact they are almost considered barbaric but these principles still guide the actions of the Shinobi of today, whether they process it as we do or not. For Naruto, Sasuke is definitely a teammate but he is also a mission, albeit the fact that my apprentice still wants to be the young Uchiha's friend."

"And what do you mean by the fact that Sasuke is a mission for the Jinchuuriki?" asked Danzo, he was not completely sure what his old friend was implying, but looking at the way Hiruzen has trained his student, it seemed quite unlikely that he would get his way with the young Uzumaki around. The Sandaime had nearly created a younger version of himself in his student, and that meant whatever Danzo wanted would be clearly opposed by the Jinchuuriki just as it was opposed by the Sandaime himself. The Hokage smiled as he described the mission that he had handed Naruto considering Sasuke...

_FLASHBACK (Before the Academy)  
_ The Sandaime waited for his student to arrive from the Sarutobi Mansion as his daughter-in-law had asked for Naruto to come over and have breakfast with his family so that she could give the news about him joining the Ninja Academy from the day after. She apparently also had a present for Naruto which she had pitched in with Konohamaru and Asuma, but as always he was left out of the loop until it was too late and it would seem almost like prying if he tried to figure out what the present was. Plus, there was no way he was going to know because the whole Sarutobi family knew that as the Hokage of the entire village, their present could easily be outdone, so the gift was so shrewdly hidden, that even him, for all his skills as a spy and espionage expert, could not find!

Currently the Hokage of the village was meditating on the small river that was created by his late teacher, Hashirama Senju, in the training grounds that he now used to train his only and current apprentice. A small smile graced his weathered features as he sensed Naruto's chakra signature coming towards their designated meeting spot, and it seemed that he was in high spirits indeed, if the constant flickering in his chakra was any indication. Soon, his student jumped into the clearing, and seeing his sensei meditating, waited patiently at the edge of the river after doing his rounds around the clearing, now doing approximately thirty laps around the clearing making a total of running ten miles every day as a physical warm up before training. After waiting for several minutes patiently, the Hokage mentioned Naruto to come forward.

"Naruto I believe your Aunty already told you about what tomorrow will bring?" he asked, his eyes still closed, and he was still in the meditative stance.

"Actually Aunty didn't tell me anything other than saying that tomorrow will be a very important day and that you will tell me about it at training today. Though Asuma-Uncle seemed to know as he kept giving me grins all throughout breakfast," replied the blonde as he took a seat opposite his sensei and got into the meditative stance as well.

"Hmm, I see," said the Sandaime in a contemplative voice before he resumed speaking to his apprentice once more. "Well Naruto, from tomorrow I will have to temporarily release you from my apprenticeship because-" before he could finish his sentence he was interrupted by a very giddy sounding blonde.

"Say it!" the Jinchuuriki almost yelled, before calming down slightly. "I will be joining the Academy won't I? Finally I will be able to serve Leaf as a Shinobi inducted under its express service as a Ninja of the Hidden Leaf." Naruto said the least sentence in a much softer voice as he could see his dream coming a little bit closer to being fulfilled.

"Yes, Naruto, you will be inducted into Konoha's Shinobi Program as soon as you pass the genin exam, though I might say that it will prove to be quite easy for you, since you already passed it about five years ago," said Sarutobi with a small mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

"Wait a second, that is what the academy graduation test consists of?" asked Naruto in an incredulous voice as he realized that the skills required to graduate the academy were skills even below the preliminary ninja skills needed to survive!

"So that is why we have to do months and months of D-rank missions as our Sensei train us to be adequate in the field," responded Naruto as he comprehended why the genin were given the worst of the worst jobs after their graduation.

"Indeed, Naruto and that is why I don't want you to badger your sensei into taking higher ranking missions as soon as you graduate, he will still need to train your teammates and make them capable of handling themselves in the field before I can give your team permission to take on missions with hostile forces being unavoidable, is that clear?" The Sandaime's stern voice made it clear enough to the young blonde that any argument on this issue will not move his sensei's decision, so he nodded, the Jinchuuriki didn't want to put his teammates in unnecessary danger anyway. Once the Sarutobi was sure that he got his point across to his student he continued. "Now Naruto I have two things to ask of you before I send you off to the academy, first being the assistant teacher of your class. We have suspicions that the teacher, who is working as an aid for Iruka Umino, is planning to flee the village and turn into a rogue. Your mission, and remember this is a very covert affair, is to inspect him. His behavior, his tendencies, and report anything that can confirm or deny our suspicions, but this will have to happen without his knowledge. Do you think you can do that?"

"Oh c'mon sensei, you know I will not turn this mission down, but is this official or unofficial?" asked the blonde, eager to get a mission after quite some time.

"As always this will be unofficial Naruto, I can't give you an official mission until you are of genin rank and you know it," replied the older of the two.

"Hmph, and what is the second thing?" asked the blonde as he made an annoyed face after hearing his sensei's previous statement.

"Well this one is a little different in nature and there is a possibility that you might not even have the chance to do it," the Hokage said as he saw a brief flash of confusion cross his apprentice's face. "You will have a classmate, a very prominent figure of this village, his name is Sasuke Uchiha. Yes, the very last surviving and loyal Uchiha of the Hidden Leaf. Yet, his recent psyche evaluations and introvert nature has caused me to have severe concerns of him and where his loyalties may truly lie. From a very young age, he has shown tendencies of going to extreme lengths to learn more and more knowledge in the Shinobi arts, and had a drive that is quite commendable of the young and upcoming generation of the Shinobi. Yet, his reasons for being so driven to gain as much knowledge and skills as possible is what concerns me. You see, his ultimate goal for his life is to avenge the murderer of his clan, and that is his own elder brother, Itachi Uchiha. For Sasuke, that is all that matters, and he has made it quite clear that no amount of convincing will make him change his goals. Naruto, you and I, we both know that the curse of hatred is quite a large burden that one carries, and when not careful that hatred can even consume the individual and turn him into something that good can never come off. This young man's idealistic view of life and his objective notion of revenge has given me enough reasons to remove him from the Shinobi program altogether but the council will not allow me because of his, now rare, bloodline which, to say the least, is truly a remarkable weapon in the hands of the right bearer."

"So what exactly do you want me to do sensei?" asked Naruto, still not completely sure of what to make of the Sandaime's explanation.

"I was actually getting to that," responded the Sarutobi. "Your mission, Naruto, is to keep a keen eye on Sasuke's actions and behavior as he progresses through his career as a Ninja of Hidden Leaf, after graduating from the academy," he raised his hand forestalling the questions that he knew his student was going to ask. "I know I am making the assumption that you will have to be in his genin squad to be able to carry out this mission, but I am the Hokage. I think I can pull a few strings." Naruto knew by the way Hiruzen was grinning that he was going to end up in the last Uchiha's squad one way or another.

"Fine Jiji, I will do it," replied the Jinchuuriki with a sigh. Sometimes he hated the way Shinobi had to work, but he had learned a long time ago that when there was a mission at hand, three principles had to be followed. First, the mission, then your comrades, and lastly, if possible, yourselves.

_FLASHBACK END_

Danzo stared at his former teammate as the man finished telling the war-hawk what had transpired between the himself and his apprentice, and why Hiruzen was so adamant about assembling Team Seven with the members that it now possessed. It was hard to believe that this was the same man that now preached about the absurdity known as the Will of Fire, and of love and camaraderie among the Shinobi. This man, whom he had thought has gone soft and senile in his current days, would never do something like sending a twelve year old boy to spy and report on his own teammate, no matter how many risks the act involved. No, this was the act of the man whom he remembered from decades ago. A man whose shrewd acuity of how the Shinobi system worked had not only made the tide of the Second Shinobi World War turn in the favor of the Hidden Leaf, but made a name as 'The God of Shinobi' for himself.

This was the act of the man who had not only surprised the Shodaime and Nidaime Hokage, but Danzo himself by telling with ruthless confidence that manipulating a situation with a few well placed tricks of deceit and lies could turn their enemies against themselves and make the resistance fall asunder under the shadow of their own doubts over their allies. Not many knew, and even less thought possible, but Hiruzen used to be a master of trickery, the man had a knack for it and had honed it to such perfection that even the most celebrated of interrogators could not tell the difference between his lies and truths. He had gone through multiple interrogations and had come out without giving a single detail away about themselves from their enemies, in fact, he had led the opposing forces to believe something so entirely different that when he did get out, he would know exactly where and how the enemy would react giving his side the advantage and time to prepare an attack that would catch the other side with complete surprise and wipe them off with perfect efficiency. When did Danzo forget what his ex-teammate, Hiruzen Sarutobi, was truly capable of?

Yet the cane wielding war-hawk knew, almost instinctively, that the Sandaime could never hope to achieve what the bandaged administrator envisioned with weapons of unbound potential such as Sasuke and Naruto at his side. He knew that as long as there were Shinobi in the world, an organization such as a Hidden Village would never be truly free of danger, from allies and enemies alike. But to achieve the closest thing to it would be to have so much strength that no village would dare to attack, knowing by reputation that by going against a force so deadly, one could only face defeat and death, nothing more. But, for reasons that Danzo could not fathom, all the Kages of the Hidden Leaf had this unshakable belief in love and friendship. Even the nearly successful attempt at a coup d'état from within the village was not enough to rouse Konoha's leader and show that only the strength in an unshakable government and unmatched military prowess were the only ways to ensure the safety of a Shinobi Village and its people. The bandaged and supposedly retired Shinobi was by no means hard-headed, and he knew well that his proposition sounded heartless, and even a little cynical, but the results of such terms had proved itself over and over with time itself as testament and witness. For the old war-hawk, Konoha's survival and existence was supreme, whether it be through straight forward and the 'nice' way or whether it be by crook and hook, he will ensure that this village, his village, was not threatened, no matter what he would have to do to achieve his goal.

"So exactly what are your plans with this boy?" asked Danzo, he had not expected his teammate to raise the Jinchuuriki in a manner where he would have the mentality of a true Shinobi by the age of twelve, but if he could get the boy to ally with himself, then he could ensure that Konoha would have a weapon that would not only be feared, which was what made him want his ROOT to be, but also respected like the times when Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha ran the village, and their reputation as Shinobi alone made the other villages think twice before even willing the Hidden Leaf ill-will, much less think of attacking it and coming out alive to tell the tale. Sure, Naruto Uzumaki will probably not have the caliber to match Shinobi such as Hashirama Senju, or even his younger brother, but that was not what made them the most feared warriors of their time, no it was what they did and how they worked that made them the mightiest that walked the lands of the Elemental Nations, and Danzo had been a first-hand witness to them in all their glory.

"Plans for the boy? Why Danzo, it seems as if you are implying that I am only using the boy for some personal gain and nothing more," responded Hiruzen with an easy smile on his face, yet the jab was more than audible in the ears of the ROOT leader.

"You know what I meant," Danzo shot back tersely as the Sandaime's chuckling subsided and he became serious once more.

"Listen well Shimura Danzo for I will say this only once. When I took on Naruto as my apprentice, I had vowed to make him a Shinobi that he showed he had the potential to be. Now call me senile or mad, but he showed me something that I had not seen in years, that is the power of tolerance. The ability to take any amount of hatred and still accept people with an open heart and a wide smile, not many have the strength to be that selfless, for everyone, in some level, always thinks of themselves before thinking of the person to the side. But Naruto, knowing nothing of love and being hated since the day he could remember, had realized something that not most people can in a lifetime, and that is understanding that acceptance and sacrifice are the truest forms of affection, given or received. Now tell me, when a person, who never received a single ounce of understanding from anyone can have such a deep realization of what it means to live for someone else, what can that person do when he has the power to alter and change the lives of many?" As the Hokage got up to receive an important message from his secretary about a meeting with some delegates from another country, he left a very confused and tremulous administrator behind, with a bad taste in his mouth, and his need for answers forgotten.

_TAZUNA'S BACKYARD THE FOLLOWING DAY_

Kakashi limped into the clearing between the trees followed slowly by a stoic Sasuke and a slightly sleepy Sakura as she rubbed her eyes furiously to get the remaining sleepiness out of her eyes. Her sensei stopped and turned towards them as he came up in front of the small river that passed by the he backyard and was also the source of water for chores and cleaning purposes of the bridge-builder's household. The silver haired Jounin nodded to his students once he was sure he had their attention.

"Tell me, what we have learned in the last few group exercises that we had as a team?" the Jounin was not surprised when Sakura's hand shot up and an eager expression crossed her face, instead he looked pointedly at Sasuke to see if he was going to participate at all. Once the boy showed no sign, he sighed softly and nodded for Sakura to continue.

"Well since we have been concentrating on advancing out chakra control, we learned to walk on vertical surfaces by concentrating chakra to our feet, and keep a steady flow going at the soles of our feet. But the most important part of the control is to discern the amount of chakra needed so that we can stay on the required surface and not slide off due to applying too little chakra, or get blasted off for applying too much," the pink haired kunoichi took a long breath after saying all that in one go.

"Yes, nicely put together Sakura," commented Kakashi to his student before looking once more at Sasuke who nodded, indicating he got all that was said. "So today we are going to learn an even more advanced form of chakra control," the silver haired Jounin stopped as he saw the disappointed looks appearing on the faces of his students before continuing. "And, if all goes well, I will also teach each of you a new technique," he was not surprised when he noticed the smile on Sakura's face or the gleam that appeared on Sasuke's eyes.

"So what is this new exercise Sensei?" asked Sakura in an excited voice as his other student's face contorted in displeasure.

"Today we will be learning how to walk on moving water," replied the Jounin as he indicated to the river behind him. "Since you know the basics, I will explain what the difference is between this exercise and the one we did before. In this advanced form of chakra control we will be consistently applying chakra to our feet but we have to constantly change the amount we apply to match the constant movements and fluctuations of the water," Kakashi slowly turned around before limping on to stand on the river, his face showing no effort whatsoever. "Or you will sink in this cold water." Sakura was the first to volunteer as it was well known that she had the better chakra control out of the two of them. She carefully applied chakra to her feet before laying one foot on the water, seeing it sink a little, she applied some more and her leg steadied. Taking a deep breath she applied the same amount of chakra to her other feet before moving to stand fully on the water and was able to stand firmly. A smile formed on her lips as she took a step, but the smile was soon erased as she yelped before sinking like a bag of stones. Swimming furiously she waded out as fast as she could, and looked at her sensei in confusion.

"What did I do wrong Sensei?" wondered the kunoichi through clenched teeth to keep them from chattering.

"Sakura, you have to constantly change the flow of chakra to your feet to match that of the movement and changes on the body of water itself," replied Kakashi as he moved closer and started to give her tips about understanding how the water moved and change the flow of chakra to her feet accordingly. On the other hand, Sasuke's face paled considerably at seeing that even with the superior control of chakra, Sakura was having trouble to perform the exercise, it would be much harder for him to get this one down, but then he another thought entered his mind and he voiced it.

"What about Naruto? Won't he be needing to train as well?"

"He is out scouting and keeping watch Sasuke, plus he knows this already so you have nothing to worry about," replied Kakashi nonchalantly before indicating for him to start the exercise.

"How does Naruto know everything that we have yet to learn?" wondered the Uchiha suspiciously before grudgingly walking towards the water and promptly sinking on his first try.

**Hiya guys, now I know you probably feel like killing for not updating in so many months but at least hear my side of the story. My laptop was completely busted, and for a good amount of time I was too busy trying to fix it and getting it to work again. It was only when my semester was getting to an end and I was falling behind on all my work that I decided to get a new one, but look at my luck. Instead of being able to work on y stories, I had to work really hard on catching up with all the work that I had missed, and then winter break came, and with it came the invitation for my internship. Yeah, tell me about being busy! Lastly, my beta reader never got back to me and I did wait for quite a few days for that too, I hope he reads this chapter and gets back to me about what happened :( So here is the new chapter, I know it is shorter compared to my other chapters but I can promise that next chapter will hold quite a bit of interesting Naruto action and maybe we will see the new things that Sakura and Sasuke has learned. Anyways, I hope you like this extremely late chapter and ** **as always ideas and opinions from readers are always welcome and if you would like to discuss the story in farther detail, just send me a quick P.M. Loved the reviews I got, so please keep them coming. Poll about Zabuza's sword has been concluded, so stay tuned to see what happens next. And please, please, please don't forget to review. Special thanks to people who started to follow and favorited this story after the last chapter was posted and if you are one of them please send me a P.M. or a review to let me know what you think.**

**Thanks,**

**Tanneal**


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